Stargate: Underground
by Scyphi
Summary: The lines have been drawn. A battle was waged. The war was lost... a post-"Unending" AU fanfic. Please R&R! EDIT: Dead.
1. Threat of Origin

Summary: The lines have been drawn. A battle was waged. The war was lost...

Rating: T

Author's Note: Since I joined FanFiction, I've been dying to write a Stargate fanfic, but some reason or another, it kept getting put off in favor of other fanfics. Well, it can be put off no longer. So, presenting my very first Stargate fanfic (that's been posted, anyway ;)). This fanfic has been under development for awhile now, and has come a long way from the original. It takes place after "Unending", and is pretty muh all planned out. I just got to write it now. It is an AU story, so everything past "Unending" will be completely rewritten. Also note that events that took place in the episode "Dominion" did not take place, therefore, Ba'al never tried to make Adria his host, and Adria hasn't ascended yet. The first few chapters will be similar to the beginning to Ark of Truth, but will quickly stray away from that. Also, there will be many character deaths in this story, so if you hate to see your favorite characters die...probably not the story for you. But of course, the choice is up to you.

Um, and I think that's everything you need to know, so enjoy!

STARGATE

UNDERGROUND

Chapter One

Threat of Origin

"Daniel. Daaanieeel."

"Mm."

"C'mon Daniel, just wake up."

"Mm-hmm."

Vala glared down at the sleeping archaeologist, lying with his head on his desk. Again she tried to shake him into waking, but still didn't get much response.

"Just how long were you up last night working on that stupid tablet?" Vala asked out loud. "No doubt longer than you should've."

Sighing, she tried shaking him again to no avail. Finally she leaned down, putting her lips close to his ear.

"DANIEL!"

Daniel flinched. A moment later, he stretched his arms, and sat up, blearily looking around. He saw Vala, and squinted at her, readjusting his glasses.

"Vala." he mumbled, rubbing at his eyes. "Did you say something?"

"Nothing at all, Daniel." Vala replied sweetly.

"Okay." Daniel said, and looked around his cluttered office. "What happened?"

"You were asleep."

"I was?"

"You were."

Daniel looked around one more time. "What time is it?" he asked.

"Oh, about nine o'clock." Vala replied, glancing at her watch.

"At night?" Daniel asked. "That's not so bad."

"Actually, Daniel, it's nine o'clock _in the morning_." Vala corrected.

"Oh." Daniel said, straightening the items that had been bumped out of position on his desk. "Guess I fell asleep working again."

"You think?"

"Sorry Vala, but I'm really, really, tired."

"You must have been working really hard on this, then." Vala said, picking up the tablet Daniel had been studying the previous night. "So much is this thing worth, anyway?"

"Actually, it's a fake." Daniel said, taking it from her.

"It is?"

"Uh-huh. The dialects it uses doesn't match up with the time period it's supposed to come from."

"But it comes from an alien planet." Vala objected. "P5B-276, remember? With all the nomad guys?"

"A planet that Earth has been coming to visit through the Stargate for almost nine years now." Daniel pointed out. "A planet whose history I know backwards and forwards."

"So...maybe this is proof of something that'll change P5B-276's history forever." Vala said. "Maybe, the tablet contains a secret of the universe. We've found that before, right?"

"Most of it is pure gibberish."

"Gibberish can mean something."

"I highly doubt sentences such as 'cat big blast control' holds a secret to the universe, Vala."

Vala looked at the tablet again, crestfallen. "So it's not valuable, then?" she asked.

"That would be a no, Vala." Daniel said, setting the tablet aside. He stretched again. "Boy, was I really out of it, though. Had this really odd dream, too."

"Really?" Vala asked, intrigued. "Was it the one with Cameron, the pineapples, and Ba'al doing a jig?"

Daniel gave her a look. "How do you know about that?" he asked. "You haven't been reading my journal again, have you?"

"Why Daniel, how could you even accuse me of such a thing?"

Daniel sighed, and didn't answer. "No, it wasn't that dream." he said. "It was a new one, where I was suddenly in this meadow, and I started walking through it into some woods, and arrived at the base of a mountain."

"There doesn't seem to be anything odd about that." Vala observed.

"Well, it's odd when the mountain suddenly blows up."

"Okay. That is a bit odd."

"Then I was in this cave, and there was a black box in front of me. No, it wasn't a box, it was an ark of some sort."

"Ooh, ooh, I've seen this movie! It's the one where the guy with the hat and whip finds the Ark of the Covenant..."

"No, a different ark." Daniel interrupted. "Can't say I've ever seen it before, yet I think there was something important about it."

"Okay, fair enough." Vala said. "What happened then?"

"Then you woke me up." Daniel said.

"Oh, and just right when it was getting good."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Why are you in my office again?" he asked. "I don't believe I heard you when you told me last time."

"But I haven't told you why I'm in here yet."

"Then tell me now."

"Well, it wasn't anything _really_ important." Vala said with a shrug. "The door was open, and since we're scheduled to step through the Stargate in about thirty minutes..."

"What?" Daniel said, jumping up. "That's right, to P4X...er..."

"349." Vala offered helpfully.

Daniel, however, just gave her a look. "Why didn't you just tell me?" he asked, grabbing his jacket and walking out the door.

Vala followed, looking innocent. "You didn't ask!" she said.

* * *

The Stargate opened with it's typical kawoosh of blue energy, before stabilizing to form the normal rippling event horizon of a stable wormhole. Moments later, SG-1 stepped through the gate and stood upon the stone podium the gate was built into. As the gate shut off again, they looked around at the market-like town square that surrounded the ancient device, all of the people going from shop to shop ignoring their presence.

"Yep." Colonel Cameron Mitchell said, adjusting the pair of sunglasses he wore. "Good ol' P4X-349."

"Well, if these guys are ignoring us so much, I guess the Ori haven't told them how "evil" we are." Daniel noted.

"Of course, we haven't proved that the Ori have even been here yet, either." Colonel Samantha Carter added, lightly handling her P90.

"According to SG-4, they have, though." Mitchell remarked, stepping down from the podium. "Reported all the usual stuff; oddly dressed guys defying the laws of physics, books called "Origin", and death threats for anybody who doesn't convert."

"Actually, SG-4 didn't really see a Prior, just that there was word that one had been here." Vala corrected as she and the rest of the team followed Mitchell.

"Whatever the case, it doesn't hurt to check things out." Mitchell said.

"Indeed." Teal'c promptly agreed.

"So here's the plan." Mitchell went on. "We'll split up. Daniel, you go with Carter and Teal'c and mingle with the locals. Find out if the Ori really have been here. Vala, you're with me. We'll make sure the area is as secure as it looks."

"But I want to mingle with the locals too!" Vala protested.

Mitchell gave her a look.

"Oh, all right, fine." Vala said, and joined Mitchell. "But next mission I get to mingle with the locals."

"I'll keep that in mind." Mitchell said, as they all started heading their separate directions. "Oh, and keep an eye out for anything Ori-ish everybody!"

"Ori-ish." Vala repeated. "We should make that a real word and put it in a dictionary!"

"Let's not and say we did." Mitchell pressed.

"Oh, but think of the profits we could get from it, Cameron!" Vala objected.

Carter stifled a smile as she watched the two walk off. "Wonder if Cam's regretting his choice to pair himself up with her yet." she said out loud.

"If I know Vala, he probably regretted it instantly." Daniel remarked, surveying the square. "So, any particular place we want to start?"

"Well, I don't know, you're the linguist." Carter remarked. "Where do you think we should start?"

"I don't think it really matters." Daniel said. "This place is really a kind of interplanetary market. Everybody here came through the Stargate from a different planet. So far as I know, nobody actually lives full time on this planet."

"So you're saying there isn't going to be one set language." Carter reasoned.

"Well, not necessarily." Daniel said. "If they all interact with one another like this, they can't have too many different languages."

"So, where do you think we should begin?" Carter repeated.

"I don't really care, to be honest." Daniel said. "I only asked in case there was some military reason we couldn't go to a certain spot."

"Just so long as it's not suspicious looking, I don't think it matters militarily speaking, either, Daniel." Carter said.

"I believe that area would be an adequate location to begin." Teal'c said suddenly, pointing at a cluster of traders not seeming to be doing anything but chatting at the moment.

"Yeah, bet they won't mind if we butt in on their conversation." Daniel said, and walked over.

Several minutes later, they walked away from the group a little wiser about the happenings religion wise on P4X-349.

"Well, I think it's safe to say that at least one Prior's been here." Daniel said, holding up a copy of the Ori's doctrine, the Book of Origin, that a local had been kind enough to hand out. "Doesn't really sound like he's done much here, though."

"I believe the Prior came here scouting for more people to convince into believing in their false gods." Teal'c reasoned.

"That could be it." Carter agreed. "You said it yourself Daniel. All of these guys originate from another planet. Maybe the Prior was here to figure out what the next best planet to hit would be."

"And, of course, spread the word of what he's doing here in the first place." Daniel added, holding up the book. "Makes sense to me. Still, it probably wouldn't hurt to ask around some more just to be sure..."

At that moment, the Stargate activated, casting a blue glow on it's surroundings. The locals all ignored it as usual, as it wasn't uncommon for the Stargate to open and close frequently here, but Carter, Teal'c, and Daniel all went on the alert, moving to where they wouldn't be seen so easily.

And a moment later, it proved to be a good thing, as the travelers emerged from the gate's event horizon...

* * *

"Look, all I'm saying is that it's an excellent chance to get some real money!" Vala said as she and Mitchell walked down the crowded village street. "C'mon, Cameron, it's not like it's going to kill anybody."

"No, just steal them of their honest life's savings." Mitchell remarked, wishing he could just ignore Vala at times like this.

"No one will suspect a thing!" Vala persisted.

"Maybe." Mitchell remarked. "But I'm pretty sure no one really needs an overpriced pen that glows."

"_I'd_ buy it." Vala said. "They'd look so pretty."

"Yeah, well, that's you." Mitchell said.

"And besides, it'd be the perfect thing to get during one of your Earth holidays, what was it called, Hallowedween?"

"That's Halloween." Mitchell corrected. "And actually, now that you mention it, I think I see your point there..."

He trailed off when he heard murmuring behind them, and turned to investigate. Somebody or somebodies were coming their way. Mitchell couldn't get a good look at them, but he had a bad feeling about it. He quickly grabbed Vala and pulled her into a nearby and empty store.

"Is it somebody we need to worry about?" Vala asked once they were safely hidden in the store.

"We'll know in a moment." Mitchell said, looking back out the door.

Sure enough, they did. The crowd quickly parted to make room for the newcomers, giving Mitchell the perfect chance to see who it was that was coming. He frowned when he saw who it was.

"Oh great." he mumbled, tightening his hold on his weapon.

"What, what is it?" Vala asked, who couldn't see who it was out there.

"It's your ex-husband." Mitchell replied.

Vala blinked and blanked out for a moment. "Which one?" she asked.

Mitchell shot her a glance. "Tomin!" he said.

"Oh. Oh!" Vala said, catching on, and straining to see the Ori commander. "Oh, oh dear."

"Yeah, and he's brought company." Mitchell added, pointing at the Prior that Tomin and his fellow soldiers, fully armed, encircled.

"Let me see." Vala said, pushing Mitchell to one side. "Oh, I hate that Prior."

"That guy?" Mitchell asked. "Why? He's a total pushover."

"Well, after you've been burned alive once, you tend to hate the person who lit the fire." Vala said with a shudder.

Mitchell glanced at her sympathetically, having forgotten that unfavorable moment in Vala's life and it was that man, now a Prior, who had ordered it to happen. "Sorry." he apologized.

"Oh, don't be." Vala assured him. "You've never been burned alive, so you wouldn't know."

They fell silent as they watched the silent progression of Prior and Ori warriors slowly walked down the street. It seemed clear they were searching for something, something that rang alarm bells in Mitchell's mind.

"We could really use an Anti-Prior device at the moment." he thought out loud.

"Didn't we bring one along?" Vala asked.

"Yeah, but it's with Carter." Mitchell said, reaching for his radio. "Sam, it's Mitchell, come in please." to his surprise, the prompt response he was expecting didn't come. "Sam, come in." he repeated. Again, no response. He frowned at his radio.

Vala tried her radio with similar results. "That's odd, why don't they work?" she asked.

"It's possible to block the transmissions, y'know." Mitchell said.

"Okay, but who's blocking the transmissions?" Vala asked.

"I've got a sneaking suspicion that it's that guy." Mitchell said, pointing at the Prior with his P90.

Just moments after he said this, the Prior suddenly stopped. The warriors also stopped, and turned to look at the Prior for instruction.

"Spread out." the Prior ordered in his monotonous voice. "They are here."

"Yes, Prior." Tomin, the leader of the warriors, said, bowing.

They all then spread out in all directions. It would only be a matter of time before they reached the spot where Mitchell and Vala were hiding...


	2. Turncoat

Chpt. 2. Slightly longer than last chpt. Still many silimarities to The Ark of Truth, but that will likely end starting next chpt.

Chapter Two

Turncoat

"Oh great." Carter muttered as she saw who was stepping through the Stargate.

"Ori troops and a Prior." Teal'c noted calmly.

"Figures they'd come here same time we are." Daniel said.

Carter watched the Prior direct his escort of warriors to regroup, and then walk off, apparently unaware of Carter, Daniel, and Teal'c standing not far from their position.

"It can't be a mere coincidence they're here." Carter said. "If it was a single Prior, then yeah, I'd buy it. But a Prior _and _Ori warriors here at the same time? I think something fishy is going on here."

"As do I." Teal'c agreed.

"We should warn the others." Daniel said, grabbing his radio. "Cameron, Vala, it's Daniel, come in please." he paused, waiting for a reply, and received none. "Cameron, Vala, we've got Ori troops and a Prior heading in your direction, please come in."

Daniel waited for a moment, got no reply, and turned to Carter, shrugging.

"Cam, Vala, report." Carter said, speaking into her own radio.

"Colonel Mitchell, Vala Mal Doran, please come in." Teal'c said, trying his own radio.

None of them got any response.

"Why don't they answer?" Daniel asked aloud.

Carter listened to the soft, almost inaudible, hissing sound their radios were producing. She frowned. "It's possible that our radio frequencies are being jammed." she theorized.

"But why, and how?" Daniel asked.

"Well, lots of things can jam a radio frequency." Carter reasoned. "An influx of EM radiation, for example, could do it."

"The inhabitants of this planet do not appear to possess such technology." Teal'c pointed out.

"Not only that, but they'd have little reason to, judging from what we know about them." Daniel added.

"It's possible some kind of astronomical event occurred without our knowing that's jammed our radios." Carter reasoned.

"_I _think it's our Ori newcomers who are behind this." Daniel said, pointing at the direction the Prior and his guards had taken to leave.

"It would appear to be the most logical explanation, Colonel Carter." Teal'c agreed.

"True, I suppose a Prior could do that, considering everything we've seen them do." Carter admitted. "But then that would mean the Prior knows we're here."

"Right." Daniel said.

"So the question I want an answer to, is how did he find out that we're here?" Carter asked.

"Perhaps one of the inhabitants alerted the Ori of our presence." Teal'c suggested.

"It would mean that the Ori have had more of an influence here than everyone was telling us, but it fits." Daniel said. "What I'm more worried about, however, is Cameron and Vala. Those Ori were heading straight for them."

"And if they know we're here..." Carter reasoned.

"...they'll be on the lookout for them." Daniel finished, standing. "We need to find them, hopefully before those Ori do. Sam, you've got an Anti-Prior device, right?"

Carter pulled the circular device from her pack, inactive at the moment. "Yup." she said, holding it up.

"Then it would appear that we have an advantage." Teal'c said, also standing.

"Then let's go." Carter said, standing and leading the way.

* * *

Mitchell watched uneasily as two Ori warriors drew closer to their position, the traders and other locals on the streets moving aside to let them pass and carry out their search.

"They're going to find us!" Vala hissed urgently.

"Not without a fight, they won't." Mitchell said, raising his P90. He motioned for Vala to do the same. "Get on that side of the door." he said, pointing to the other side of the store's door. "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes."

"Ick." Vala muttered, but obeyed, holding her own P90 at the ready.

The Ori warriors drew closer, seemingly unaware that they were about to be attacked. Mitchell motioned to Vala to get ready, then fired the first shot. It hit the warrior to the left right on, taking him down. Vala realized a spray of bullets at the warrior to the right. Her aim wasn't as precise as Mitchell's, and most of the bullets ricocheted of the warrior's armor. One finally found it's mark, and the warrior went down.

The noise of the attack alarmed the populace idling in the streets, and they started to flee. Seeing the two warriors go down, the others started to converge on the spot, weapons at the ready. Mitchell saw the Prior turn to look in the direction of the conflict, but did not move further. This worried him, but he didn't get much of a chance to think about it as one of the warriors fired his staff weapon dangerously close to where Mitchell hid in the shop's doorway.

He motioned to Vala to hold of returning fire for a moment, letting the warriors draw closer again, then fired once more. This time they weren't nearly as successful, as only on warrior was injured. He fell back, clamping a hand to the wound. The others pressed onward, their armor having protected them from the bullets.

Mitchell went to fire again, only to have his P90 suddenly zip out of his hands. A yelp from Vala told him hers had done the same. The weapons were carried along by an unseen force until they reached the approaching warriors, who quickly and calmly collected them. Mitchell quickly went for his 9mm pistol and Vala her Zat, but by that point, the warriors had them surrounded.

"Great." Mitchell said. "Caught again."

The Prior, who was no doubt responsible for disarming them of their P90s moved to join the warriors in the store.

"Ori business." Tomin said to the remaining inhabitants, last to arrive. "Please leave us."

"Tomin!" Vala exclaimed, drawing Tomin's attention.

He regarded Vala silently for a moment, removing his helmet. "Vala." he greeted in return.

"Well, don't just stand there, do something!" Vala pressed urgently. She jerked her head at the Prior. "Take him out!"

"A Prior of the Ori cannot be killed." the Prior interrupted confidently.

"I'm willing to challenge that." Mitchell said, suddenly pointing his pistol at the Prior and shooting.

The bullet stopped short of it's target, hovering there in front of the Prior for a moment, then fell harmlessly to the ground.

Mitchell sighed, lowering his weapon. "Worth a try." he muttered.

"I suppose you're going to kill us now aren't you?" Vala said, lowering her Zat in defeat.

The warriors then took their weapons. Vala kept shooting Tomin hopeful glances, knowing he didn't approve of the Ori's methods anymore, but Tomin seemed determined to stay out of the matter.

"Not unless you choose to accept the teachings of Origin." the Prior said, answering Vala's question.

"Yeah, I think we've been over that before." Mitchell said. "Forget it."

The Prior tilted his head at Mitchell. "You will die then." he said calmly.

Mitchell rolled his eyes. "It's always death with you people, isn't it?" he asked.

The Prior regarded Mitchell once more. "You fear the power of the Ori." he stated plainly.

"Not so much as fear but rather...dislike." Mitchell corrected.

"That will change." the Prior said, and turned as if to leave. "Kill them."

It was then that Tomin suddenly intervened. "Prior, if I may." he said, motioning to the warriors to wait a moment. "We shouldn't kill them. Instead, let us make them prisoners, and teach them the teachings of Origin. If they convert, they could tell us a great many things about our enemies."

"'If.'" the Prior repeated. "How lightly you use that word, young Tomin. Can you not see that these personages are filled with evil? They must die."

Tomin bit his lip, as if hesitant to continue the argument. He caught Vala's eye, who silently urged him to continue. Tomin took a deep breath. "Prior," he began again, "the teachings of Origin clearly say..."

"You, a lowly commander, instructing a Prior the teachings of Origin?" the Prior interrupted, indignant. "You will obey my commands, Tomin, or face my wrath." he jabbed his staff into the ground to empathize his point. "Kill them." he repeated.

Tomin seemed hesitant still, but drew himself up regardless. "No." he said flatly.

"Kill them!" the Prior repeated, raising his voice.

When Tomin still failed to obey, the Prior grabbed Tomin's staff weapon and brought it to bear on Vala and Mitchell. But during the brief moment the Prior had his back to them, they had started to move as well, going to grab the staff weapons from the warriors on either side of them. Mitchell quickly grabbed hold o one, and fought to relinquish it's owner's hold upon it. Vala got her hands on the weapon the warrior she choose to attack, but the warrior stepped around to get leverage and pulled it away from her.

This action actually saved Vala's life, for the shot the Prior fired from his staff weapon hit the warrior instead of Vala. He fell to the ground, dead. By this point, Mitchell had seized control of the staff weapon enough to find the fire control, and fired blindly at the Prior. He completely expected the shot to have no effect, but the blast hit the Prior right on. Wide-eyed with shock, the Prior toppled backwards to the ground, dead.

Tomin, shocked, quickly jumped out of the way of the falling Prior. "Hold your fire!" he quickly commanded the other warriors.

It wasn't needed, however, as they were all too shocked at what happened to do anything of the sort.

Worried that this was some kind of act, Mitchell kicked at the dead Prior, as if have expecting him to hop up and attack them. But the Prior didn't move.

"O-kay..." Mitchell said, lowering the staff weapon. "I didn't expect that to happen."

"Not that it feels immensely satisfactory to have killed a Prior, particularly this one, but what do you think made him drop his guard like that?" Vala asked, puzzled.

"Uh, that would be our doing." Daniel remarked, as he, Carter, and Teal'c suddenly appeared in the doorway. He motioned to the Anti-Prior device Carter held, it's lights flashing.

"Ah." Mitchell said, understanding everything now. "Took you guys long enough to get here, though."

"Well, we lost their trail at one point." Carter admitted. "But when we heard the firefight happening here, we quickly tracked you guys down again." she glanced down at the dead Prior. "Good thing we did, too."

Tomin, however, was feeling confused. "What happened?" he asked, still shocked by what happened.

Carter held up the device in her hand. "This device produces a high-frequency sound that will disrupt the abilities of any Prior's within it's range." she explained. "The effect is only temporary, but there are advantages to what it can do." she gestured to the dead Prior.

They were all silent, looking at the dead Prior.

"So...now what?" Mitchell asked.

"Report back to base, I guess." Carter said.

"What about us?" one of the warriors suddenly asked. They all seemed lost without a Prior to direct them.

"You could come with us." Mitchell suggested.

The warriors all seemed hesitant.

"Of course, I suppose the final choice is up to you, though." Mitchell went on, looking at Tomin.

Tomin, who had been staring numbly at his feet or the past several seconds, looked up suddenly. He seemed to be even more at a lost as to what to do than the others.

"Tomin, please." Vala said, stepping towards him. "I know you have your...misgivings...about the Ori. If anything, this should've only proven what the Ori _really _are."

"Monsters." Tomin deduced softly.

Vala nodded.

Tomin remained silent for several moments.

"Really, what is there left to doubt?" Mitchell asked.

"Cameron, please!" Vala said. "Imagine how it is for him! Unlike us, he grew up thinking the Ori are gods!"

"Until now." Tomin said suddenly, and quite confidently.

Everyone turned to glance at him.

* * *

"So it's because we managed to kill one Prior that we now have no less than five Ori warriors and their commander in custody, about ready to turn against the Ori." General Landry summarized, setting down the brief report in his hands.

"Yes sir." Mitchell said with pride, leaning back in his chair.

"We should kill those guys more often." Landry said with a grin. "Imagine all the warriors we could turn by doing that."

"Yes, but with all due respect, sir, it was merely a matter of luck we managed to kill this one Prior." Carter said, leaning on the briefing room table, back at the SGC. "The odds of us doing it again anytime soon aren't very good, put frankly."

"The Priors will merely be more on their guard than ever before." Teal'c agreed flatly.

"But at least we know we can kill the guys." Vala offered.

"Yes, there is that." Daniel said. "And, now we have six people who know how the Ori have been operating. We can get a great deal of valuable information from them."

"The IOA agrees completely with that presumption, Dr. Jackson." Landry said. "They've sent Mr. Woolsey to begin interrogating the prisoners immediately."

"Interrogate?" Vala repeated. "Prisoners?"

"Now wait, when I said we could get information from them, I didn't mean treating them as prisoners of war." Daniel objected quickly, leaning forward.

"I completely agree, Dr. Jackson." Landry said. "I daresay it won't help our image any."

"Right, they should be made welcome here, and allowed to think about what's happened first." Mitchell said. "Let them tell us what we know on their own agenda. I know it's what I'd want, if I were them."

"Yeah!" Carter agreed. "Sir, if we force them to talk now...they might decide not to talk at all." she paused, and blinked as a thought suddenly came to her. "They may even decide they want to go back to the Ori. And then we'll be right back where we began!"

"I'm sorry colonel, but the matter is out of my hands." Landry said. "You all know as well as I that the IOA gets to overrule me on matters such as this. It's their opinion that we simply don't have the time to wait. And besides, these guys haven't actually _declared _they've switched sides just yet. They could be spying on us all, just waiting for their chance to cut our throats. We can't treat this situation lightly."

"I have to agree." Vala said, to the surprise of many. "The Ori are a real threat, now more than ever, seeing they have control over the Supergate now. We could be all wiped out in the next few hours for all we know! But still, I believe this will be a very bad move for the IOA to make."

"I'm sorry, Vala, there's nothing I can do." Landry repeated. "There is one upside, however. Colonel Mitchell, you've been granted authorization to supervise the interrogations."

"To make sure ol' Woolsey doesn't go overboard, right?" Mitchell asked with a grin.

"There's that." Landry admitted. "But I think you're there more for Woolsey's well being than anything. In case those Ori warriors decide to put their skills to use on him."

"Of course." Mitchell said with a sigh.

"Now, unless there's anything else we need to add, you're all dismissed." Landry said, standing.

* * *

Later, Mitchell watched from the observation room was Woolsey sat down at the plain steel table and prepared to begin. Sitting across the table from him, looking slightly on edge, was Tomin. Mitchell felt sympathetic for him. It had been mere hours since Tomin had been brought here after surrendering himself and his command to SG-1 on P4X-349. Tomin hadn't had much chance to think his actions through. He was no doubt under a great deal of stress.

Woolsey seemed to understand this, as he calmly sat down, adjusting his glasses. "Now, here is how things will work." he told Tomin calmly. "I will ask you a question. You may answer it however you like, and it'll be recorded for reviewing on the tape recorder." he gestured to the device he had placed on the table. "Understood?"

Tomin thought for a moment. "Can I not respond to any questions?" he asked.

Woolsey sighed. "Yes." he admitted. "But it is not recommended."

Tomin nodded, ready to begin.

Woolsey started simply. "Name?" he asked.

"Tomin."

"You were one of the Ori's primary commanders, were you not?"

"That is correct."

"You believed at one point that the Ori were gods. For how long was this?"

Tomin frowned. "All my life." he replied.

"And yet, you've turned against them in a matter of a few hours."

"That is right."

"Then," Woolsey said, leaning forward, "and forgive me for being blunt, but how can we trust you?"

Mitchell groaned from where he watched. Already to the accusing.

Tomin, however, had an answer ready. "You don't." he said. "You merely must have faith in me."

Woolsey blinked. "Suppose that is simply not enough?" he asked.

"I realize that." Tomin said. "But I wish to work at gaining that trust for as long as it takes."

"Suppose you never gain that trust." Woolsey asked rhetorically.

"Then so be it." Tomin replied.

Woolsey blinked again. He tried a different approach. "As a commander of the Ori, you had several innocent people killed on your command, correct?"

"Yes." Tomin replied softly. Mitchell could see that it was a very sensitive issue for him.

"Do you have any regret for what you did?"

"Yes."

"How do you think you can repay that loss?"

"I cannot."

Woolsey blinked once more, clearly not expecting that answer. Mitchell suspected he had planned to accuse Tomin that he couldn't be forgiven what he did, and was unprepared to be beaten to it so.

"Excuse me?" Woolsey asked.

"I cannot repay for that loss of life." Tomin said sadly. "No matter what I do, those deaths will always scar my image."

Woolsey kept blinking. "Right." he said. "Suppose Earth decides to punish you for what you have done?"

"Then so be it." Tomin said. "I certainly will not blame you for it. If anything, it's all I deserve."

Woolsey blinked some more, clearly frustrated at the fact that it wasn;t Tomin who was getting frustrated. Mitchell couldn't help but grin. Only five minutes in and Woolsey was already stumped, unable to find more blame to pin on Tomin and make him squirm, as the IOA seemed to love to do. If everybody could do that, then the IOA would be a heck of a lot easier to deal with.

* * *

"Any progress?" Carter asked as she stepped into the lab.

Dr. Lee looked up from the laptop he was working at. "Some." he admitted, then shook his head. "All the technology the average Ori warrior wears." he muttered, glancing up at the table where all the armor, weaponry, and other devices Tomin and the warriors under his command had carried until their surrender. "Imagine what kind of defenses against the Ori we could build with this stuff. I mean, even if those Ori guys don't talk, we can still learn enough from just their equipment to give those Ori a real run for their money."

"Pretty amazing." Carter agreed, sitting down to her own laptop. "First, we need to figure out how they work, first."

"Yeah, about that." Dr. Lee said, taking one device from where it sat next to him and brought it over to Carter. "I, uh, starting detecting an odd energy signature from this after you left. I think something triggered it to activate."

Carter glanced at the wristband-like device. A light was flashing on it. "What is it?" she asked, taking the device from Lee.

"I, uh, think it's a, uh, communication device of some sort." Lee said. "But there's only the one."

"You mean this is the only one that's doing this?" Carter asked, holding up the device.

"No, no, I mean that's the only one of those things we've got." Lee said. "Of all six of those Ori guys we got today, only one had one of those things."

Carter glanced back down at the device. "It's Tomin's." she realized.

* * *

The phone next to Mitchell rang suddenly. He picked it up. "Mitchell here." he said.

"Cameron?" Carter's voice said. "I'm on my way down to the interrogation room. I need to ask Tomin a question. Can you have Woolsey pause the interrogation?"

"Sure thing." Mitchell said, then asked, "Whatcha got?"

"I'm not sure yet, but I know Tomin can tell me." Carter said. "I'll be there shortly."

"Got it." Mitchell said, and hung up. He turned his attention to look out the window and into the room beyond where Woolsey and Tomin were idly discussing Tomin's past. "Mr. Woolsey." he said, speaking into the microphone that broadcasted his voice in the room beyond. "Can you pause for a moment?"

Woolsey stopped his tape recorder. "May I ask why?" he asked.

"Carter's got something she wants to talk to Tomin about for a moment." Mitchell explained. "She'll be here in a moment."

A moment proved to be an understatement, for just after Mitchell said this, the door opened and Carter stepped in. She ignored Woolsey, who started to ask her what the interruption was about, and went straight to Tomin.

"Tomin, can you tell me what this is?" she asked, handing Tomin the wristband device.

Tomin took it, spying the blinking light. "It's a long-range communications device." he explained, turning it over and pressing a few controls upon it. "All commanders have one."

"To quickly receive orders, right?" Carter guessed.

Tomin nodded. He pressed a button, and a small screen lit up, displaying a text message. He skimmed through it. "All commanders are to return to their assigned ships and meet with the rest of the fleet for an attack."

"Attack?" Woolsey asked, listening. "Where?"

Tomin looked up. "Earth."

* * *

"We knew this was going to happen sooner or later." Carter explained later to General Landry in the briefing room. "The Ori have known that we're one of the few beings out there in the galaxy that has any real chance of fighting them."

"I still say Vala jinxed us." Mitchell muttered.

"Hey, when I said they could attack within hours earlier today, I didn't actually think it would be true." Vala said in her defense.

"Still, I find it far too much of a coincidence that the Ori give the command to gather the fleet and attack Earth just hours after we play host to six members of their army." Landry stated.

"That's what Woolsey said." Carter said. "He wants to find out who sold us out."

"So he already believes one, if not all, of our Ori turncoats are spies." Daniel said.

"That's Woolsey." Mitchell said. "Always thinking the allies are the enemies."

"Well, I don't." Landry said. "There's no proof that any of these guys sold us out, much less have the means."

"Exactly sir!" Carter said. "The only device we've found that could've contacted the Ori was Tomin's wristband, and that's been in the lab and away from everyone who could've used it the moment we returned from P4X-349."

"Not only that, what could they tell the Ori?" Mitchell asked. "It's not like Earth's location in space has been any real big secret. The Ori have known where we are for more than a year now, if not two."

"And not only that, we _did _just kill a Prior." Daniel said. "Maybe, because of that, the Ori finally decided we're not a force to ignore anymore."

"Attack now, rather than later." Teal'c summarized stoically.

"Whatever the case, the fact hasn't changed that they are coming here, to attack." Vala said, getting them back on track. "We must stop them somehow."

"Agreed." Landry said. "The president has already ordered we move to defcon 3 and prepare for the threat of attack. The _Odyssey _is being prepared to intercept. It'll be joined later by the _Daedalus_, which is already en route for home and has been appraised of the situation. The _Apollo _is also being readied for combat."

"The _Apollo_?" Mitchell repeated.

"The newest Daedalus class battleship." Carter explained.

"It's being rushed into service." Landry added.

"And we all know what happened to the _last _ship we rushed into service." Mitchell remarked, thinking of the late _Korolev._

Landry ignored the comment. "The Ancient drone chair in Antarctica is being readied for battle," he continued, "Atlantis is to be informed of the situation and is to be expected to be out of radio contact for the time being, and all off-world bases are to be standing by and be prepared to receive refugees, if it comes to that. All off-world teams are ordered to hold out where they are, if possible. All air support, F-302 or otherwise, are being readied for battle as well. We're not taking any chances."

"I'm just afraid it won't be enough." Vala remarked.

"Perhaps we will find a way to dissuade attack from the Ori fleet." Teal'c offered hopefully.

"Yeah, Vala, always think optimistically." Mitchell said. "Now, general. Anything _we _can do?"

"Colonel, you're going with the _Odyssey_." Landry told Mitchell. "Colonel Davidson is still new to his command. It's all agreed that it would be greatly perferred if there is someone present on the _Odyssey _who is an expert when it comes to fighting the Ori."

"Well, what do you know, I'm an expert." Mitchell remarked with a grin.

"I want the rest of you to stay here on stand by, in case something comes up here in the meantime." Landry said, standing. "Dismissed."

"Wait, that's it?" Vala asked, surprised. "That's all we're going to do?"

"Unfortunately, Vala, that's all we can do for now." Carter replied gravely.


	3. Incursion

Similarities to Ark of Truth end in this chapter. Little slow at first, but picks up towards the end. Again, a reminder that many major charcters will die in this fanfic. Just so you are aware.

Chapter Three

Incursion

Out beyond the orbit of Pluto sat the _Odyssey_. The flagship for Earth, and currently the only ship stationed permanently in the Milky Way Galaxy. And unlike other Daedalus class ships that had been built, _Odyssey _had an advantage over other ships as the craft currently held an Asgard database, power core, and several upgrades, making it currently the most advanced and powerful ship in the fleet.

Mitchell only hoped it would be enough.

Holding two cups of coffee, he made his way through the corridors of the _Odyssey _and stepped onto the bridge. Sitting in the center seat was Colonel Ian Davidson, commanding officer for the _Odyssey _and the replacement for the late Colonel Emerson. He was a balding, grey haired man with a serious and determined expression.

Currently, Davidson was leaning forward in his chair, and staring out the forward viewport at the inky blackness of space. He glanced at Mitchell briefly as he entered, then resumed staring out the forward viewport.

Mitchell stepped up to stand next to the chair and followed Davidson's line of vision for a moment. Seeing nothing of interest, he finally looked back at Davidson. Davidson, sensing he was being watched, looked at Mitchell.

"Coffee?" Mitchell asked, holding out one of the two cups he carried.

Davidson looked at it, hesitant.

"It's fresh." Mitchell added.

Davdison nodded, and accepted it. "Thank you colonel." he said, sipping the beverage.

"Don't mention it." Mitchell said, taking a healthy swig from his own cup. "Figured that since we aren't doing anything just yet, it wouldn't hurt to have a quick coffee break."

Davidson nodded, half-listening, then shook his head. "I don't get it though." he finally admitted, looking at Mitchell. "You seem so calm about all of this."

"Well, the Ori aren't here just _yet_." Mitchell pointed out. "It's not really going to do any of us much good to start panicking before the bad guys even show up."

Davidson looked in his cup, then set it aside without finishing it. "Yes, I see what you mean." he said, but he also sighed, looking back out the forward viewport. "Unfortunately, it doesn't stop me from panicking just yet."

"Understandable." Mitchell said. He looked out the forward viewport, still unable to see what interested Davidson so much about it. "So, I take it nothing's happened just yet." he guessed.

"Nope." Davidson said. "We got a report from the _Apollo, _though. They just arrived, and are positioned a few hundred kilometers that way." he pointed to the left of the bridge. "We've also gotten reports that the _Daedalus _is now in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way and will arrive shortly."

"And the Ori?" Mitchell asked, sipping his drink.

"We've gotten brief glimpses of them on long rang sensors, but because it's most likely they are traveling here by hyperspace, it'll be very hard to track them accurately until they actually get here." Davidson said.

"How far away were they when you last saw them?" Mitchell asked.

"Several lightyears." Davidson said. "It shouldn't be too much longer before they actually get here."

"So in other words, be ready to saddle up." Mitchell concluded.

"In short, yes." Davidson replied.

They continued looking out the forward viewport for a few moments.

"So, what is it exactly that you find so interesting out there?" Mitchell finally asked.

Davidson grinned. "You probably don't find it anything interesting anymore, but I am still very much in awe about the fact that I'm out here, in space." he said. "I mean, before I was assigned to command this ship, I've been space before, but...never like this."

"Yeah, it does take some getting used to." Mitchell admitted.

"You've just gotten used to it already."

"Yep."

Davidson nodded. "When you've seen one area of space..."

"You've seen them all." Mitchell finished, draining his cup of it's coffee, the pointed at Davidson's cup. "You should finish that before it gets cold."

Davidson glanced at the cup. "Thanks, but no thanks." he said. "I'm too anxious to have anything to eat. Or drink, in this case."

"You should." Mitchell said. "Keeps your strength up."

"I know, but I don't want to be caught by the Ori showing up suddenly and attacking while I'm eating a tuna sandwich." Davidson said.

"Yeah, I guess you can't really stop and ask if they could stop attacking long enough for you to finish lunch first." Mitchell said.

"Exactly." Davidson said with a nod.

They were silent again for a moment.

"Sir," Major Marks sitting at the station to Davidson's left suddenly said, "We're getting a new message from the _Daedalus_, text only."

"What's it say?" Davidson asked.

"Colonel Caldwell reports that they will arrive momentarily." Marks said. "But he also says that they detected an energy surge resembling an active hyperdrive bearing down on our position." he worked for a moment at his station. "Sir, the readings are consistent with an Ori mothership."

"Estimated time to arrival?" Davidson asked, all business now.

"Fifteen minutes." Marks reported.

"Battlestations." Davidson ordered, then turned to Mitchell. "Looks like the wait's over, colonel."

Mitchell didn't reply, but kept his eyes looking out the forward viewport, waiting for any signs of a hyperspace window forming to appear. One finally did appear, but the object that exited it wasn't the ship or ships they were expecting.

"Colonel, the _Daedalus _has arrived." Marks reported. "She's taking up a position to our starboard side, similar to the _Apollo_, and is arming weapons. ETA ten minutes to Ori ship arrival."

They waited. Finally, not one, but several hyperspace windows opened in bright flashes of light, and the monstrous forms of the Ori motherships exited them, coming to stop in front of the fleet of three ships. As more and more arrived, the ships all moved to form a formation, lining up in a straight line.

"Their weapons are charged." Marks reported.

"Shields up!" Davidson said. "Major, send them a message stating that we will shoot if need be."

Marks nodded, and worked at his console for a moment. "Sent." he reported. "The Ori ships are sending no reply."

"Didn't really expect them to." Mitchell mumbled. He watched the ships for a few moments though, in puzzlement. "They should've opened fire by now, though."

"They are armed, colonel, but they don't seem to be preparing to fire just yet." Marks said.

Davidson watched the ships hovering there for a few moments. "It's as if they're waiting for something..." he thought out loud.

"Maybe the final command to attack?" Mitchell asked.

"Maybe." Davidson asked. "Or maybe they're waiting for more ships to arrive. Major, any more hyperspace windows opening?"

"None sir." Marks reported. "There doesn't seem to be any indication that more are on the way either, sir."

Davidson frowned. "Maybe we should attack now, while we have the chance." he reasoned. He turned to Mitchell. "What do you think, colonel?"

"I don't know." Mitchell admitted, frowning. "But something about all of this just doesn't seem right..."

* * *

"General, we have confirmation that the Ori armada has arrived within the solar system." Sergeant Walter Harriman reported suddenly.

Landry looked up from the report he had stopped to sign as he arrived in the control room. "And?" he prompted.

"No action yet, sir." Walter said. "The Ori seem to be waiting to play their hand, sir."

Landry grunted. "Typical." he said, walking over to where Walter sat. "Come all these hundreds of lightyears to get here, get us all panicked, and then just sit there." he sighed, straightening his shirt. "Walter, prepare to dial the gate to the Alpha Site." he finally continued. "I have orders from the president that all unneeded SGC personnel are to head there for the time being."

Walter started to obey, but then looked back up at the general. "Sir?" he prompted.

"We're not taking any chances, sergeant." Landry said.

"Yes sir." Walter said, and started to key in the right address into the dialing computer.

But before the program started, the gate started to dial on it's on accord.

"Incoming wormhole!" Walter exclaimed suddenly.

Landry, who had been about to leave, turned back suddenly. The guards standing in the gate room stood at attention, raising their weapons.

"Closing the iris." Walter said, placing his palm on a nearby palm scanner.

The metal shield slid into position, spiraling around like the device from which it earned it's name. A moment later, the gate activated with the usual kawhooshing sound, and cast a rippling blue light against the back of the room. A few moments passed.

"No IDC, sir." Walter said. "Checking the address to see if it matches up with any known addresses in the computer." he worked for a few moments.

A loud thump rang out suddenly against the iris, causing Landry to jump. "What was that?" he asked.

"Something struck the iris, sir." Walter said, still searching for any matches to the gate address that had been used to dial in.

The wormhole remained open a little while longer. Finally, Walter had his report.

"Sir, the address matches with that of P2Z-887, a confirmed Ori controlled planet." Walter said suddenly.

Landry frowned. "They've dialed in to try and keep us from dialing out, I'll bet." he said with a snort. "A common Goa'uld tactic." he stood there thinking for a moment. "Walter, I'm going to call the president. Keep me posted."

"Yes sir." Walter said.

Landry left the room and returned to his office. Walter stayed where he was, watching the gate as there wasn't much else he could do at the moment. Suddenly, a low roar rang out as something long and big hit the iris. Walter saw a graph on one of his screens suddenly spike.

"What the..." he muttered.

A few moments later, it happened again, the spike appearing again, bigger this time.

"We're reading a huge temperature rise coming from the iris!" a technician suddenly reported.

Walter glanced at the iris and saw that the titanium-trinium device, and saw that it had indeed taken an unhealthy hue of red. As the roar came again, Walter visibly saw the iris turn redder still.

"Another hit, and that iris won't hold!" the same technician said.

Walter quickly grabbed a phone, dialing the general's number to report what was going on. But by that point, it was too late. The roar came again, and the iris turned redder still and began to sag and bulge outward. Finally, it could take no more and shattered. The energy beam, reminiscent to a smaller version of an Ori beam cannon, that was being used to hit the iris continued onward once the iris collapsed, shot across the gate room, and hit the control room head on, completely destroying it and killing all within.

Up in Landry's office, the whole room shook as the beam struck the control room, knocking Landry from his chair, making him drop the receiver to the red phone he had been using. The windows that ran along the briefing room shattered, and the lights flickered. Several cracks spilt into the walls and floor of the rooms, and a blast of fire shot up the staircase that led into the control room.

Landry realized that something had gone wrong, and quickly picked himself up, grabbing the receiver to his phone again, to finish his report with the president.

"Hello, Mr. President?" Landry said into the phone.

But to his dismay, the line was dead. He heard several shouts ringing out from all around, and the base's alarms went off suddenly. Landry fumbled with one of the drawers in his desk and pulled out a 9mm pistol. He knew it wouldn't do him much good in an alien invasion, but it was the best he had access to.

Quickly, he slipped out of his office, and went to the broken briefing room windows, keeping low so not to be seen. Peering into the smoke filled room, he saw the active Stargate sitting there calmly, but no one living was stepping through it just yet. Relieved for that much, he surveyed the damage of the rest of the room.

He could easily tell that the control room was gone, and felt a pang of remorse for the loss of life that entailed. Several of the guards that had been stationed within the gate room itself were dead as well, killed in the blast, and the rest were all wounded. Out of all of them, only one remained still armed and in good enough condition to point his weapon at the gate.

The gate itself seemed okay, but the molten metal plates that jutted outward from it made it clear that the iris had been destroyed. The upper portion of the ramp that led up to the gate had been destroyed as well. Other than that, the room seemed intact, and the blast doors leading in and out of the room were closed and sealed, as they should be.

Landry turned his attention back to the rippling event horizon of the wormhole the gate was still connected to, knowing that shortly someone would probably step through. As he thought this, the still very hot remains of the iris suddenly cooled off in great clouds of steam. A few moments later, the upper portion of what remained of the iris bended to turn away from the portal, while the lower portion bent to bridge the gap in the damaged ramp.

All of this was done in a matter of moments, so Landry wasn't surprised when he saw an Ori Prior step through the gate, his staff glowing brightly. The one guard still in any position to resist fired his weapon at the Prior. All the shots did not hit it's target, stopping short before falling to the ground.

The Prior merely looked in the guard's direction and used his telekinesis to knock the guard backwards and into the wall. After this was done, Ori warriors started filing through the gate, armed and ready for a battle. At the Prior's command, they promptly went about killing the surviving guards, then gathered around the closed blast doors.

The Prior looked at one, mentally commanded it to open, then did the same with the other. A firefight quickly ensued, as the Ori warriors met resistance from several SGC personnel who had quickly armed and positioned themselves behind those doors, waiting for this moment. They dropped several Ori warriors, but ultimately the warriors either defeated all of these guards or drove them back, for they were soon filing through the open blast doors.

The gate shut off suddenly, leaving just the Prior in the room, standing at the top of what remained of the ramp. He looked around calmly at the destruction that had been dealt, then, suddenly, looked up at the briefing room windows where Landry watched. The general quickly dropped down so not to be seen, but the Prior kept looking at the area, telling Landry that the Prior knew he was there regardless.

"Hallowed are the Ori." the Prior spoke loudly in Landry's direction.

Then it left, walking down the ramp and heading out one of the open blast doors. Landry then got this room is shortly going to be the very last place he'll want to be...


	4. Engaged in Battle

Getting into the action now, which is good, because that gets me into the spirit of the story and makes writing it easier. Reminder that in this fanfic, Adria has NOT ascended yet.

Chapter Four

Engaged in Battle

Carter entered the mess hall, and unsurprisingly saw Daniel, Vala, and Teal'c all gathered at one table, eating. Half-grinning, she walked over to join them.

"Figures I'd find you all here." she said, helping herself to some food off of Daniel's plate.

Annoyed, Daniel scooted his plate away from Carter, only to have Vala do likewise.

"It was agreed that there was little else to do, Colonel Carter." Teal'c explained as Daniel shot Vala a glare.

"Yeah, nothing but sit and wait." Carter agreed. "I mean, normally, there are about half a dozen things I could be doing all over the base, half of those things right in my lab. But, while knowing that the Ori could be attacking at any moment and not having any real means of fighting back yet..." she trailed off.

"...you couldn't concentrate." Daniel finished. "Yeah, I had the same problem."

"As did I." Teal'c added.

"Me, I just went wherever everyone else went." Vala said, picking again at Daniel's food while he wasn't looking.

"And they _are _serving pie today." Daniel said, pointing at the slice he had on his plate with his fork. "Y'know, the kind Jack always raved on about?"

"Still, it irks me." Carter said, leaning her elbows on the table. "I feel like there's something we should be doing, and not sitting around here eating pie."

"General Landry requested that we remain on base in case a situation arose." Teal'c said calmly.

"I know, Teal'c, but still...couldn't there be something else we could be doing?" Carter asked. "Something more...regular?"

"Like saving the world?" Daniel offered.

"Yeah." Carter said. "I guess that would qualify for normal for us, wouldn't it?"

"At least Cameron gets to be on the front lines of the attack." Vala said, as if this helped any of them feel better. "Bet he's having a great deal of fun right now."

"Yeah, but we're still stuck here." Carter said. "I know this probably isn't a very good thing to be thinking, but a part of me wishes that something would happen here."

At that moment, the alarms started going off.

"Incoming wormhole!" Walter's voice announced over the intercom.

Daniel gave Carter a look. "I wish you hadn't said that." he said, wiping his mouth with his napkin and standing.

The others followed, and they quickly hurried out of the mess hall and down the hall. Moments later, a low rumble rang out and the ground underneath their feet shook. Dust trickled down from the ceiling.

"What was that?" Vala asked, looking apprehensive.

A few moments later, another alarm went off, one that the group didn't hear very often, and hoped to not hear at all. A few moments later, a large party of airmen rushed by. Carter quickly hurried to keep up with them, drawing the attention of one.

"Airman, what's the situation?" Carter asked urgently.

"Reports indicating that the iris has been breeched, ma'am!" the airman replied quickly. "We have intruding aliens in the base! I highly recommend you find armaments, ma'am."

"Right." Carter said, knowing that there was an armory not far from the direction they were running and redoubled her pace. "We're going to have to fight our way out of this."

"But if they're coming through the Stargate, wouldn't the better plan be to find a way to shut down the gate?" Daniel asked.

"Can't, doctor, the control room has been destroyed." the airman reported.

"Destroyed?" Daniel reported, with a blink of shock.

"Then we need to get to the power room and cut power to the gate." Carter said, suddenly changing directions to go back the way they had come. "Airman, hold your position for as long as you can, and keep them at bay!"

"Yes ma'am!" the airman said, and motioned the other airmen following him to keep running.

They both went their separate ways. Carter led her party to the nearest armory closest first, and start distributing out weapons.

"With whom do you believe is invading?" Teal'c inquired, accepting the weapons Carter handed him.

"I'll bet anything that it's the Ori, Muscles." Vala said.

"Pretty safe bet." Carter agreed, arming a P90. "It can't be a coincidence that the Ori fleet is converging to attack Earth the same time this ground attack begins."

"They want a two-front battle." Daniel realized.

"And are off to a great start." Vala added. "I mean, if they've managed to penetrate the iris..."

"Vala's right, without the iris, and no control room to manage the gate's operations, the Ori can pretty much come and go as they please." Carter said. "We can prevent that by cutting off the gate's power." she paused for a moment, then added, "or at least slow them down."

In the distance, they heard weapons fire going off.

"That is if the Ori don't beat us there." Daniel muttered.

"We'd better hurry." Carter said, and led the way down the hall.

* * *

The Ori fleet began attacking without warning. Several blasts from the massive ships's beam weapons struck each of the three Earth ships in turn. Their shields withheld against the sudden and brutal attack, but not without a price.

"Shields down to ninety percent." Major Marks reported. "A complete ten percent decrease. _Apollo _and _Daedalus _reporting similar damage reports."

"Evasive action, ready the Asgard beams weapons." Davidson ordered, then turned to glance briefly at Mitchell. "Guess whatever they were waiting for happened."

"Guess so." Mitchell said as the _Odyssey _banked to the right to avoid another blast from an Ori beam weapon, and caught a glimpse of the _Daedalus _following their example.

"Beam weapons armed and ready to fire, sir." Marks reported.

"Fire at will at closest target." Davidson ordered.

The slender blue beams of plasma lashed out at the closest Ori mothership. The first few shots were reflected by the mothership's shields, making them flare briefly each time, but then a shot finally slipped through and hit the ship's hull. It left a large, gaping, hole in the white hull of the ship. More shots were quick to penetrate the mothership's weakening shields, damaging the ship more and more until it could take no more and exploded in a large flash of light.

Mitchell, Davidson, and everyone else present looked away as the light flooded the bridge. Looking back as it faded, they saw that the _Odyssey _was surging towards the front of an Ori ship that had sat right behind the one they just destroyed, on an unintentional collision course.

"Pull up, NOW!" Davidson ordered.

Marks was already one step ahead and gripped the controls tightly as the _Odyssey's _nose pulled up without slowing. Narrowly shooting over the top of the mothership and it's impenetrable shields, the craft leveled out above the ship and started shooting over it. As _Odyssey _did this, it fired her beam cannons downward at the mothership it was flying over. The beams did not start penetrating the mothership's shields until _Odyssey _started flying over the mothership's dorsal portions, thus scoring several direct hits on the mothership's engines.

Veering out of control, and as closely packed as all the ships now were, the ship crashed into the shields of a neighboring Ori ship, severely and fatally damaging the ship. The other Ori ship it had run into survived the impact, looking to be intact, but wandered off on an uneven course as if a little stunned.

"Two down." Davidson said once _Odyssey _had resumed a more safe position in the battle.

"Only about a bizillion left to go." Mitchell said, realizing just how many Ori ships there were in this fleet that had been gathered.

"How are the other ships doing?" Davidson asked Marks as _Odyssey _skirted past another Ori mothership.

"Both _Daedalus _and the _Apollo _are reporting unsuccessful attacks against the enemy ships, but both have only received minor damage so far." Marks reported.

"Of course, seeing that we're the only ship that has the only weapon that can even penetrate the shields those ships have got." Mitchell muttered, thinking. "And we can't keep picking these guys off one by one on our own." he held up a finger decisively. "I have a better idea."

"Colonel?" Davidson asked, open to suggestions.

"How about we attack the Ori ships long enough to bring down their shields, then leave the rest to _Daedalus _and the _Apollo_?" Mitchell suggested. "I mean, with no shields, those Ori ships are completely vulnerable to conventional attacks, right?"

"It's an idea worth trying." Davidson said, refocusing his attention on the battle. "Marks, relay the information. Tell them we'll attack in formations, with _Odyssey _leading and _Daedalus _and _Apollo _following."

Marks nodded, and relayed the information. "Message sent and received." he reported a few moments later. "_Daedalus _and _Apollo _are complying."

_Odyssey _shook as she took a hit from a passing Ori ship. Davidson was jostled within his seat, and quickly readjusted his position.

"All right, let's try this tactic out." he said. "Marks, begin firing when ready, target the shield generators of each Ori ship."

"Yes sir." Marks said, and began the attack.

The tactic work. The moment _Odyssey _brought down the shields of the first Ori ship, the _Daedalus _and the _Apollo _both released a barrage of nukes at the ship. Defenseless against them, the Ori ship was quickly destroyed. Encouraged by this success, the three ships staged three more attacks against other Ori ships and succeed in destroying them as well.

But every ship they destroyed, there was another to take it's place.

"Where did all these Ori ships come from?" Davidson asked aloud in annoyance.

"No doubt they've been coming through the Supergate while we weren't watching in preparation for this attack." Mitchell said.

"Incoming Ori fighters!" Marks exclaimed suddenly.

The sleek and fast ships shot past all three Earth ships, firing rapidly. _Odyssey's _crew was buffeted around as the ship shook from the impacts.

"We're taking damage." Marks reported. "Shields down another five percent."

"F-302's..." Mitchell began.

"...wouldn't stand a chance in all of this!" Davidson exclaimed, gesturing out the viewport at the chaotic battle. "Sorry, colonel, but the goals of this attack is to minimize our casualties, not increase them!"

They were jostled around as the _Odyssey _shook under more weapon impacts.

"Shields down to eighty percent!" Marks reported. The ship shook as it took an impact from an Ori beam weapon head on. "Seventy-five percent!"

A control panel nearby sparked suddenly. _Odyssey _shook more violently from the attacks it was getting.

"We gotta do something about those fighters!" Mitchell said. "We're getting a real beating from them!"

"_Daedalus _and _Apollo _reporting that they are under heavy enemy fire, sir!" Marks reported. "They're starting to take damage! The Ori ships are pressing forward, sir, and heading deeper into the system."

"Stay in front of them!" Davidson ordered. "No matter what happens, I want to stay ahead of this fleet!"

* * *

Landry hurried back into his office, and slipped out the door that led into the hallway. Looking up and down and not seeing anybody, he moved forward and on down the hallway. Pistol held at the ready in case he was attacked, he moved forward, hoping to find an ally before he found an enemy.

He had no such luck. He instead met up with a large party of Ori warriors milling about at an elevator. Landry quickly skidded to a halt, saw the warriors see him, and quickly fired two shots at the two closest. The warriors promptly lowered their staff weapons to fire upon the general, one very nearly hitting him, so Landry didn't stick around to see if any of his shots had hit home, turning around quickly to go back the way the had come.

He came face to face with the Prior who led the invasion.

Landry instantly brought his pistol to bear on the Prior, but before he could complete this act, felt an invisible force wrap itself around his neck and lift his feet off the ground. Choking slightly, Landry let his hand holding the pistol fall to his side. An Ori warrior relieved his possession of it.

The Prior pressed his face towards Landry. "The evil cannot resist the power of the Ori." he said. Then, with a wave of his hand, released his hold upon Landry, letting drop back to the ground.

Landry landed on his feet, but stumbled backwards, dizzy from being choked for so long. Two warriors quickly grabbed his arms and forced him upright, holding him tight. The Prior turned and walked down the hall.

"Come." he said. "We will prove to you that power."

The warriors forced Landry to follow, willing to drag him if need be. Landry finally broke down and obeyed.

"Can't wait." he muttered sarcastically.

* * *

Vala, getting ahead of herself, raced around the corner of the hallway, only to come to a skidding stop and run back, being chased by several blasts from Ori staff weapons. The rest of the team quickly returned fire, then retreated.

"So much for that plan." Vala muttered as they ran. "There were easily twice our numbers of Ori warriors guarding that power station."

"So a no go on cutting power to the gate." Daniel summarized.

"Unless you want to get shot, I would say yes, Daniel." Vala muttered sarcastically.

Carter quickly led them into a storage closest to hide out for a moment. "Whoever is leading this attack knew exactly what to go for and didn't waste time getting there." she said once they were inside. "That suggests at least one Prior in the base."

"Guess our next course of action is to take out the Prior then." Daniel reasoned.

"Or Prior_s_." Vala added.

"We will require a Anti-Prior device." Teal'c stated bluntly.

"I've got a few in my lab." Carter said. "Presuming the Ori haven't taken it, we can get some there."

"Okay, then what?" Daniel asked.

"Then we retake the base." Carter summarized. She saw Daniel's look and shrugged. "I know, not a great plan, but it's the best I've got at the moment."

"Should we not plan our actions now?" Teal'c asked.

"Muscles is right." Vala agreed. "The better plan we've got, the more likely we can pull it off."

"Yeah, but I don't know if we've got that kind of time." Carter said. "I think we should act now, plan along the way, and hope for the best."

"Perhaps we should ask an expert on the Ori for suggestions." Teal'c proposed.

"Yeah, but who?" Daniel asked.

Teal'c turned to look at Daniel. "Is there more than one?" he asked.

Vala caught on. "You mean Tomin." she realized.

Teal'c nodded.

"I don't think the Ori have gotten as far as the holding rooms yet, so it's worth a try." Carter agreed, opening the door slowly and peaking out. "Coast's clear. Let's go."

* * *

When the door to the cell room opened, and it was clear it was friends and not foes entering, Woolsey and Tomin were immensely relieved, Woolsey more than Tomin.

"Colonel!" the IOA member exclaimed, heading straight to Carter. "What's happening? We've heard alarms and gunfire, and an airman came in here saying there'd been a attack an to stay here...?"

"He's right, the Ori have breeched the iris and are invading the SGC." Carter reported gravely.

Tomin silently stood at this announcement.

"But how?" Woolsey asked. "I thought the iris prevented anything from coming through the Stargate while it was closed!"

"We're not sure how." Carter admitted. "We've lost control over the gate room, and thus haven't really seen for ourselves. But it wouldn't be the first time we've had enemies get past it."

"So now what?" Woolsey asked.

"We actually came for Tomin." Vala said.

"You did?" Tomin repeated, looking surprised.

"You possess much knowledge concerning how the Ori troops move, do you not?" Teal'c asked.

"That's right." Tomin admitted.

"Then you can help us plan some attack strategies." Daniel said, handing Tomin a weapon.

Tomin glanced at the unfamiliar weapon, but nodded. "Okay." he said. "I will help."

"Right, it's best we stay on the move." Carter said, turning to leave.

"Wait, what about me?" Woolsey asked, stopping them.

The group looked at one another.

"Well, you could stay here and hope nobody finds you..." Daniel began.

"As if!" Woolsey exclaimed.

"...or you could come with us and risk your life in mortal combat against unbeatable odds." Vala finished.

Woolsey paled at this thought. "I think I'll stay here." he finally said.

"Good, I didn't want to have to listen to your whining." Daniel said, as they all left Woolsey in the room.

"Now Tomin, tell us everything you can about the Ori's attack strategies." Carter said as they went.

* * *

The Prior eventually led the warriors and Landry to the gate room, or to what was left of it. A large gaping hole sat in the wall directly adjacent from the Stargate, and the room was very battle worn now. The dead bodies of those had fallen still lay scattered about the room. Landry tried to ignore their presence, feelings pangs of sadness as he recognized those who had fallen, anger at the thought that they were killed so mercilessly by the Ori, and disgust at how ill-treated their bodies were.

The Prior looked at Landry for a moment, looking as if he wanted to say something. He ultimately chose to remain silent, and moved to stand to one side of Landry. Without warning, the Stargate started to dial, and moments later, the kawoosh of blue energy jumped out at them. Landry flinched as it shot out, not used to being so close to the gate when it activated.

The event horizon stabilized after a moment. The Prior and the warriors stood watching it, clearly waiting for something to step through. They didn't wait long, for a single figure stepped through. Landry felt his stomach sink as he recognized the figure.

"Welcome, hallowed Orici." the Prior greeted with a mild grin.

"Hello Prior." Adria greeted in return. "I trust the invasion has been going well, then?"


	5. Unbeatable Odds

Long chapter. Lots of action, but with a price. End bit at the end of the chapter I feel is a little weak, with a whole bunch of holes in the plot I realized I had to fill. Eh, could be worse though.

Chapter Five

Unbeatable Odds

The _Odyssey _shook again from another impact from an Ori beam cannon. A panel somewhere in the bridge sparked nosily, and Mitchell heard someone yelp. He didn't turn to see who, or if they needed help though, knowing that their were plenty of people in the bridge already who would help whomever it was, and instead kept his attention focused on the battle.

"Shields down to fifty percent!" Marks reported, having had to hold onto his station in order to be kept from getting hurled out of his chair. "We're taking a real beating, sir!"

"Keep firing!" Davidson ordered, coughing on the smoke that had started to fill the room. "Major, status report! Where are we?"

"We've been driven back to Jupiter orbit, at least." Mitchell noted, seeing the faint shape of the gas giant loom out in the background of the battle.

"Confirmed, sir!" Marks said. "And we're still losing ground! The Ori fleet is not being driven back!"

"What about the other ships?" Davidson asked urgently. "What's their status?"

"Colonel Ellis of the _Apollo _reports minor to moderate all around damage with shields down to thirty percent." Marks reported. "_Daedalus _reports more major damage to forward hull and shields down to twelve percent. Colonel Caldwell requests assistance as soon as possible."

"Let's go help then." Davidson said. "Marks, lay in a course."

"Yes sir." Marks said, working with his controls.

_Odyssey _slowly veered away from the nearby Ori ship it had been attacking and turned to head closer to Jupiter. As it went, the combined forces of the Ori fleet and the swarms of Ori fighters attacked the little ship, but it maintained it course.

Davidson watched as an Ori mothership sailed underneath them, continuing on it's course to Earth. He cursed. "There must be something we can do to drive these guys back!" he exclaimed in frustration. "Some unknown weakness or something we can use to our advantage!" he turned to look at Mitchell. "Colonel, you know more about these ships than I do, any ideas?"

Mitchell shook his head. "Even if I did have one, colonel, I doubt we could carry it out!" he said. "There's just not enough of us!"

"We're approaching _Daedalus, _sir!" Marks interrupted suddenly. "Detecting two Ori ships and a squadron of fighters attacking her, sir!"

Mitchell and Davidson turned their attention to the forward viewport. Outside, the shape of the _Daedalus _could clearly be made out. Her hull was already riddled with small holes and scorch marks, indicating her shields were rapidly becoming more and more unable to keep out enemy fire. The urgency of the ship's predicament became worse and more clear when a spray of weapons fire struck _Daedalus's _shields, making them sparkle for a moment, revealing just how thin they had become. The whole ship visible shuddered as it was struck by not one but two blasts from Ori beam weapons, fired by the two motherships that had gained up against her.

"There's no way we're going to stop those ships in time!" Mitchell exclaimed.

"_Daedalus's _shields are collapsing!" Marks exclaimed.

"Major, lock onto as many people on that ship as you can and beam them over here!" Davidson cried urgently.

Marks was in the process of carrying out the order when another blast from an Ori beam cannon whizzed right through _Daedalus's _almost nonexistent shields like they weren't there, striking the ship in it's upper hull. The yellow bolt of energy plowed right through _Daedalus_, creating a chain reaction that quickly tore the ship to pieces in a brilliant flash of light and fire.

Davidson stood up, shocked, and cursed.

"The _Daedalus!_" someone on the bridge exclaimed.

"Marks, how many people did you get?" Mitchell asked quickly.

"Just two, sir!"

"Just _two_?"

"There wasn't enough time to lock onto anymore signals, sir!" Marks exclaimed in his defense.

Davidson sat down heavily into his chair. "It's okay, Marks, you tried." he assured the major with a sigh.

_Odyssey _shook as the two Ori ships and the squadron of fighters turned their attention onto the Earth ship.

"Ori fleet is pressing on, they're now leaving Jupiter orbit." Marks reported.

"Pursue!" Davidson ordered. "We're not going to let those blasted Ori go without a fight!"

* * *

Three Ori warriors looked up as the door to the lab slid open suddenly, and were greeted by the combined fire of several P90's, a zat, and a 9mm pistol. All three quickly fell. Once they were down, Tomin stepped forward and swapped out his pistol for one of the fallen staff weapons while Carter quickly began working her way through the tangle of equipment the warriors had been in the process of scattering and/or destroying.

"There has to be one here somewhere!" she muttered, pushing carelessly off the worktable and onto the floor. Many of the items shattered at the feet of the rest as they entered the room.

Daniel picked up one such broken item. "Sam, you sure you wanted to do that?" he asked, having never seen Carter treat her stuff with such carelessness.

"Daniel, none of it will do me any good if this base falls to enemy hands!" she pointed out. Finally, her face brightened. "Ah-ha!" she declared, holding up an Anti-Prior device in victory.

Tomin took it from her and studied it. "I still find it hard to believe that this little device is capable of stopping a Prior of the Ori." he murmured.

"Well, only temporarily at least." Vala pointed out. "Speaking of which, I think we should leave that thing off until we actually have a better idea where any and all Priors are in the base. If we don't, we could walk past them many times without knowing it, all the while he slowly working to overcome the effects."

"Well, we don't know if it has that kind of range, Vala." Carter said, taking the device back from Tomin. "But I agree. Besides, it's not like the batteries on these things can last forever."

"So, now where to?" Daniel asked.

"Perhaps we should go to the gate room." Teal'c suggested.

"He's right, that would be the most likely place to find a Prior." Tomin agreed. "He'd be there directing all the new troops that had arrived. It would be a good place to look first."

"So you're saying we should just waltz into the most security breeched room in this entire mountain and single handedly take it back?" Vala asked.

"I believe the plan was to simply defeat and kill the Prior, Vala." Tomin corrected.

"Vala does bring up a good point, though." Daniel said. "There are going to be warriors upon warriors packed into that room. How are we supposed to get in there and look for any Priors?"

"We could enter through the general's office." Carter said, leading the way back out of the lab. "There's probably going to be less attention focused there."

"Where is Landry, anyway?" Daniel asked as they ran down the suddenly and strangely empty corridors.

"You don't think he's been killed, do you?" Vala asked.

"There's no way to tell at this point." Carter admitted. "I personally hope not, but the odds aren't in his favor."

* * *

"General Landry, I presume?" Adria asked as she stepped down what remained of the ramp leading up to the Stargate. "I've heard a great deal about you, general."

"I've heard a great deal about you as well, Adria." Landry said with a glare. "And let me be first to say that none of it was good."

Adria frowned. "Cheekiness will get you nowhere, general." she said. "The power of the Ori will always be triumphant."

"That's what you say." Landry said. "I'm still waiting for you to prove it."

"I won't need to." Adria vowed. "Unless you accept the teachings of Origin, which I highly believe to be unlikely, you will die. And then you will have proof enough."

"Can't wait." Landry muttered again.

"Prior." Adria said, glancing over to the personage. "Is there anyplace that has been captured that is more private?"

"There is one close by, hallowed Orici." the Prior said, and pointed with his staff up at the far right side of the briefing room. Landry suspected he was referring to his own office.

"Perfect." Adria said with a grin, and started for the door, the warriors following, dragging Landry along. "Come, general. There are a few things I wish to discuss with you."

* * *

"We are now entering asteroid belt, sir." Marks stated as _Odyssey _and the _Apollo _followed the Ori fleet into the field of space junk.

Mitchell pointed at some of the large rocks that floated around. "Maybe we can use some of these to our advantage." he said. "Maybe we can get one of them to ram into unshielded Ori motherships."

Davidson was jostled in his seat as the ship was hit. "Yeah, but how?" he asked, repositioning himself in the chair.

"Yeah, I guess we would need a tractor beam or something like that, wouldn't we?" Mitchell admitted.

"Sensors are picking up some asteroids large enough to hide something the size of the _Odyssey, _sirs." Marks offered helpfully.

"Good thinking, major." Davidson said. "I doubt we could hide from the Ori behind those things, but they could make for good shields."

"Yeah, I'm game for a round of cat and mouse." Mitchell said, seeing where this was going and liking it.

"Relaying plans to _Apollo_." Marks said.

"Ready to break off attack and await my command." Davidson ordered.

_Odyssey _and _Apollo _continued attacking for a few moments as the whole progression of ships moved deeper into the asteroid belt, then suddenly stopped, and broke off, veering on different paths from each other. They disappeared from view for a few moments. The Ori motherships continued on, unconcerned. _Odyssey _then reappeared, shooting from out behind a large asteroid and surged towards the nearest mothership, lashing out with it's Asgard beam cannons. The mothership took the blows, and continued on. _Odyssey _vanished yet again.

A few moments later, it returned, firing at another Ori ship while lashing out again at the first one. This time, both ships took heavy damage, their shields failing. _Odyssey _vanished again, only to be replaced with the _Apollo, _which fired off a few nukes at the unshielded ships, destroying them. Seeing the threat to this method of attack, the Ori ships retaliated, lashing out with their beam cannons.

Both _Odyssey _and the _Apollo _wove in and around the surrounding asteroids, evading the attacks. The tactic worked for a little while, with many of the yellow bolts hitting asteroids rather than their targets, distracting the fleet of motherships while the _Odyssey _and the _Apollo _attacked them from varying angles. The Ori caught quickly, though, and adjusted their tactics. As the beam cannon wasn't precise enough to hit their faster and speedier targets in these conditions, they switched to smaller cannons, and launched even more fighters.

Once again, the _Odyssey _and the _Apollo _were finding that conditions were turning unfavorable again.

"Well, that tactic didn't last." Mitchell muttered as a squadron of Ori fighters scored several hits to the ship, making her rock.

"Shields down to thirty-five percent." Marks reported. Another jolt from weapon's fire. "Thirty percent. Sir, _Apollo _reports that she's taking heavy damage."

"Lay in an intercept course, and be ready to pick off whatever is attacking her!" Davidson ordered. "I will not allow Earth to loose another ship!"

_Odyssey _quickly joined _Apollo _and the two ships began picking off the fighters attacking both ships. They had just about taken out the last one when an asteroid hovering over the two ships exploded, shooting debris down at them. The bridge lurched heavily to one side as one such piece of debris. Mitchell quickly latched onto the back of Davdison's chair to keep from getting thrown to one side of the room.

"Shields down to twenty-two percent!" Marks exclaimed. "_Apollo _states that shields are at ten percent!"

"What in the world was that?" Davidson demanded.

"Detecting an Ori ship approaching from above!" Marks replied.

Sure enough, an Ori mothership surged down through the debris of the asteroid and started attacking at the two ships.

"They got the drop on us!" Mitchell exclaimed. "We need to move, NOW!"

"Marks, all ahead full!" Davidson said. "Put some distance between us and that ship!"

_Odyssey _quickly lurched forward, leaving _Apollo _in their wake. Mitchell glanced at it as they slid past it. "Why aren't they following?" he asked.

"Colonel Ellis reports that their sublight engines are offline, they're dead in the water, sir." Marks replied.

Davidson paled. "Double back!" he ordered, watching as _Odyssey _pivoted around to point back at _Apollo_. "Defend that ship at all costs until she's airborne again!"

"Too late." Mitchell said.

The ambushing Ori mothership fired everything it had at the _Apollo_, both beam cannon and it's more minor cannons. _Apollo's _shields withstood one more onslaught against the beam cannon, but failed when the smaller blasts from the motherhship's more minor cannons, piercing right through and striking _Apollo's _unprotected hull. Very soon, the ship was riddled with holes, almost like swiss cheese, and quite fatally wounded.

Mitchell stared with unbelief at the crippled ship, then looked beyond the _Apollo _where the white bulk of an Ori mothership surged towards their position. "We've got company!" he exclaimed, pointing.

Davidson noticed the oncoming ship as well. "Marks, belay that order, and get us out of here, best possible speed!" he ordered.

_Odyssey _started to turn around once again to resume it's original course, but not fast enough. The Ori ship fired it's beam cannon at the fleeing ship, the shot blasting through one side of the _Apollo _before continuing on to destroy an asteroid that was already dangerously close to the _Odyssey. _The ship rocked from the impact, and sparks showered down in the bridge in long streams.

"Shields are down!" Marks exclaimed, working urgently with his controls.

"Get them back, now!" Davidson ordered. "Resume course!"

The mothership fired again with it's beam cannon. _Odyssey _quickly attempted an evasive maneuver, but it was of little help. The shot skimmed along the topside of the _Odyssey_, leaving a long scar on her hull. One side of the bridge suddenly exploded, knocking Mitchell over. Bringing one arm up to shield his face from the shower of shrapnel that was raining down on him, he started to turn to break his fall, but wasn't fast enough, hitting the metal deck, hard.

A cacophony of noises assailed his ears of people yelling, control panels shorting out, flames lapping at burned circuitry, and the puffing sound of a fire extinguisher. The map display table behind Mitchell shattered suddenly, raining glass down to the floor. Groaning, Mitchell started to pick himself up, seeing Marks do the same, having been knocked from his spot as well, only to be knocked down again as the ship shuddered again.

Again, Mitchell worked to pick himself up, coughing on the thick smoke that had filled the room, and blinking in the sudden darkness that filled the room. The lights must have gone out. After a moment, though, the emergency lighting came on, partly lighting the room. Finally standing up, Mitchell surveyed the damage, which seemed to be under control. Then he turned, to look towards the front of the room.

It was then that he saw Colonel Davidson, lying on the floor, and not moving.

Quickly, Mitchell rushed to his aide, but instantly saw he was quite dead, a shard of metal protruding from his neck. Mitchell winced at the wound, and looked away.

"Shields have been restored!" Marks exclaimed suddenly. "Operating at twenty-five percent, sir!" he turned and apparently saw Davidson, dead on the floor, for the first time. He cursed, but bounced back quickly, turning to Mitchell. "Sir, we have hull breeches on the upper levels. They have been evacuated and sealed off. Moderate damage to the hull. All systems are within operating levels, however, and weapons are active. We have two Ori motherships bearing down on our position. Your orders sir?"

"Huh?" Mitchell said, only getting half of that.

"Sir, you are the next highest ranking officer after Davidson." Marks said quickly. "You need to take command of the ship!"

Mitchell blinked for a few moments, processing this. "Right!" he said, standing again. "Of course! Um, return fire, and uh...maintain speed and heading!"

"Yes sir!" Marks said, and went to carry out the order.

Mitchell, after a moment's hesitation, lowered himself into Davidson's chair. He felt out of place sitting there, but he someone knew it was what he needed to do.

"Ori fleet is moving on." Marks reported. "They're maintaining their course to Earth."

"Of course they are." Mitchell muttered. "Follow them, Marks. We're not going to have very many more chances to take them out."

* * *

Landry had been right about his guess that the Prior had been referring to Landry's office was that "private" place Adria had requested. A room Landry knew inside and out. Maybe there was something here that he could use to his advantage to escape. Furthermore, Adria had sent the Prior away once they were there, and had the two Ori warriors stand guard outside the room. This meant that Landry only had one person left to deal with.

Only problem was that person was a half Ori super Prior with a temper.

Once they were alone, Adria used her telekinesis to have Landry kneel. He didn't really resist. He figured it was better to play along for the moment anyway, at least until he had a better plan of action.

Adria started to circle him. "First, allow me to explain what we are going to do, general." she said. "I will ask a question, and you will provide an answer."

Landry snorted. "Ask all you want, but don't hold your breath for an answer." he said.

Adria said nothing in reply. "Your Stargate," she began, "where is it's dialing device?"

Landry laughed. "If you really as powerful as you calm, you would've known that there _is _no dialing device on Earth!" he said. "All we had was a jury-rigged one that _you _blasted away into oblivion! You destroyed the only means of dialing the gate on this planet." he grinned. "Looks like you'll have to find some other way to dial that gate yourself."

Adria shot him annoyed glance, her eyes glowing briefly. "Where is Vala?" she asked next.

"I don't know, she could be just about anywhere, now." Landry replied. "You've put the whole base on alert. If she was smart, she would've gotten out here by now!"

Adria grinned. "I do not believe so." she said. "Now, where are the six Ori soldiers you took captive being held?"

Landry did not reply, and defiantly remained silent.

Adria paused for a moment. "Holding cell five through eleven on level twenty-eight." she answered for Landry.

Landry blinked with surprise. "How do you know that?" he asked.

"Telepathy." Adria replied, tapping her temple.

Landry frowned. "But if you can read my mind," he began, "then why are you even bothering to ask me these questions?"

"It gives you a false sense of security, does it not?" Adria asked with a cruel grin. "But I am done asking questions now. I wish to move on to a different subject."

"And what's that?" Landry asked in annoyance.

"It involves Origin." Adria replied, still grinning.

* * *

Teal'c peered around the corner and looked down the hall. He then turned back to the others.

"There are two Ori guards at the door of General Landry's office." he reported.

"Only two?" Carter said, frowning. "I was expecting more."

"That is odd." Tomin agreed. "Usually, a Prior would order more to be standing guard. Instead, these are the first we have seen in the area."

"Maybe their trying to break a trend." Vala suggested.

"Or maybe they're all busy somewhere else on the base." Daniel suggested.

"I smell a trap." Carter said.

Tomin sniffed the air, and opened his mouth to say something that he couldn't smell anything but Vala stopped him by quickly explaining the phrase in a whisper.

"I do not believe we should back down, Colonel Carter." Teal'c said. "If the Ori are guarding the gate room less than we previously suspected, now would be the time to attack."

"I agree with Muscles." Vala said. "Sounds like the perfect chance to me."

"All right." Carter said, pulling out a zat. "Can't argue with that logic."

She fired the zat at the closest guard, downing him, then took out the next one before he could react fully. Both fell silently and with little noise. Regardless, the group waited to make sure the attack hadn't alerted anyone. Nothing happened, so they moved forward, and down the hall.

"So what do you think they were guarding, anyway?" Vala asked as they moved to the door. "I mean, what is there really that anyone would except for a few souvenirs?" she thought about that for a few more moments. "Is there some kind of treasure in there that you guys never told me about?" she whispered conspiratorially.

"Shush, I can hear something." Daniel said, pressing his ear to the door.

"A Prior?" Tomin asked.

"No, I don't think so." Daniel said. "I can make out General Landry's voice, however."

"Let me hear, Daniel." Vala said, gently pushing Daniel aside and pressing her ear to the door.

"Y'know, I've never really considered myself to be a very religious man." Landry was saying.

"I'm sure that if you open you mind to the teachings of Origin, that can change." a voice said in reply, one Vala knew all too well.

"Adria." she murmured.

* * *

"Look, spare me the sermon." Landry said, not in the mood to have this talk over a false religion when there were people dying. "You know as well as I that'll do you no good."

"The Ori believe in giving everyone a chance to choose for themselves." Adria said.

Landry scoffed the idea. "Then why do you kill everyone who refuses to believe?" he asked.

"Those who embrace evil become corrupt, and jeopardize the work of the Ori." Adria pointed out. "Surely, you must see the logic in that."

"No, not really." Landry said. "Seems to me that a _real _god wouldn't force anybody to do his bidding. He'd let them choose for themselves, regardless of the fact that they might choose to do evil. And if they did, he'd let them live. A real god would love the people he or she's created, no matter what they did in their lives."

"The Ori are as you describe." Adria assured him.

"Then prove it." Landry said. "Find some way to convince me otherwise, and I'll take it all back."

Adria glared down at the general for a moment. "I will not waste my breath explaining to you what you clearly do not understand." she said, shirking the challenge. "But I will say that no matter what, the evil must fall eventually."

"Exactly right." Landry agreed. "And eventually you and the Ori _will _fall."

Adria did not reply right away. She stopped circling Landry for a moment, staring at the wall.

"The Ori are dead, aren't they?" Landry guessed. "Merlin's device thing finished them off, as we planned, didn't it? You are rallying worshipers for gods that don't even exist."

Adria turned to look at him, giving him a glare that sent a shudder down Landry's spine. For a moment, he thought she was going to kill him right there and then, but then she suddenly shook her head, as if to try and clear it of some thought.

"You underestimate the plans Origin has laid out." she said instead, and began circling him again.

It was then Landry caught movement out of the corner of his eye, and, making sure Adria didn't see, glanced towards it. The door to his office leading out into the hall was slowly opening to a small crack. On the other side, Landry could make out a person, but exactly who, he didn't know. He had a pretty good hunch, though.

Adria didn't seem to notice, having stopped to examine one of the items sitting on Landry's desk, possibly brooding about what she wanted to say next. Landry resisted the urge to grin. It would be her undoing by doing that.

Adria suddenly turned back to Landry, overlooking the door, and again not noticing it was open a crack. "This will be your last chance, general." Adria said. "Embrace the teachings of Origin, and I will spare your life. Help me to convert your planet's people, and I will spare their lives as I see fit as well."

Landry snorted. "As you see fit." he repeated. "I don't suppose you'd mind telling me the fine print in that agreement, would you?"

Adria furrowed her brow in puzzlement. "Fine print?" she asked despite herself.

Landry didn't complain, it was keeping her attention on him and not the door. He just hoped that whatever the person or persons beyond that door would hurry up and do whatever it was they were planning to do.

"Yeah." Landry said. "See, on our world, we're technically required by law to lay out all the terms and conditions of that agreement. But there are so many jerks in our world that would love to cheat us out of our money, so they put the parts of the agreement they don't want the rest of us looking at in letters smaller than the rest, hoping we'd just over look them. It's called fine print. Seems to me that if you Ori are good at anything, it's that kind of business strategy..."

The zat fired suddenly, striking Adria head on. The energy washed over her for a moment, then she fell to the floor, unconscious. Landry was immediately on his feet as the door opened fully to reveal SG-1 and Tomin.

"Fire again!" Landry exclaimed. "Kill her while we've got the chance!"

Carter stepped into the room with a frustrated look. "We can't." she said, and raised the zat she had fired again.

She fired it once more at Adria, then again. Like before, the energy washed over her, but otherwise, the zat didn't seem to do anything.

Carter looked at Landry. "That third shot should've disintegrated her, sir." she said.

Vala knelt down and checked Adria for a pulse. "The second should've killed her." she announced. "But she's still very much alive, general."

"It's her pendant." Carter explained. "Because she wasn't expecting an attack, and we caught her off guard in conjunction with the use of an Anti-Prior device..." Daniel held up said device, currently active, "...we were lucky enough to get the one shot in and knock her unconscious. However, the pendant has an automated system that has kicked in. It'll shield her from anymore attacks until she regains consciousness and resumes control over it."

"Then why didn't you shoot her with a P90?" Landry asked, gesturing to the weapon all of them save Tomin had slung over their shoulders.

"Too noisy, sir." Carter explained. "As we don't have any silencers on hand, the sound of the weapon firing may have given Adria enough heads up to bring up her shields. A zat is much quieter. Besides, sir, we couldn't get a shot lined up that could've taken out Adria without killing you too, sir."

"Colonel, while I'm flattered you were thinking of my well being, I much rather die so the enemy could die, than live and see her carry on her evil doings." Landry scolded. "Remember that next time."

Carter blushed. "Yes sir." she said. "I don't know what I was thinking, sir."

"You're human, colonel." Landry said, in a more reassurring manner this time. "You were doing what we do best. Thinking of others."

Carter managed a weak grin.

"Um, not to ruin the moment or anything, but I really don't want to be around when she wakes up." Daniel interrupted suddenly, pointing at Adria.

"Daniel's right, we should leave this area, general." Carter said, escorting Landry out of the room.

"One more thing, colonel." Landry said as they went. "About that whole deal with the pendant..."

"Yes sir?"

"When did we learn it could do all that automated protection stuff?"

"Well, sir, it was just a theory I had until a few minutes ago."


	6. Invasion

First off, I want to apologize for the later than usual update. It's been a really hectic week for me, with constant snowstorms hitting that require me digging out of, last minute Christmas shopping, wrapping presents, being out of town for most of a day and thus away from my beloved laptop, one of the computers in my household getting some spyware (due to a mixture of an ad on FanFiction ( :( ) and Internet Explorer), and my place of work suddenly announcing that they were to train me for a new assignment and that I thus needed to work more hours. And there's probably more to all of that which eludes my mind. Whatever the case, that's why this is so late to be posted.

Now, to the chapter. Focuses mostly on the Ori battlefront in space and not the SGC. Things take a turn for the worse. Jack appears. I kill off a few redshirts. Y'know, the usual. :)

Happy Holidays!

Chapter Six

Invasion

The _Odyssey _lurched as it took another impact from an Ori beam cannon. A pipe of some sort burst behind Mitchell, spewing out a fog-like substance, probably some kind of coolant that he didn't know the name off. He heard someone move to seal the leak, so he didn't pay much attention to it.

"Shields down to fifteen percent!" Marks reported, urgently tapping away at his console. "They won't take much more of this sir, and if they fail again, I doubt I could get them back up again."

"Understood!" Mitchell said, as he clung tightly to the arms of the command chair. "Status on the Ori fleet!"

"They're still continuing on their course!" Marks said. "We're rapidly approaching Earth! ETA ten minutes!"

"How many of them are left?" Mitchell asked.

"Roughly about twenty ships, sir!" Marks reported.

Mitchell winced, but tried to remain optimistic. "Let's see how many of those we can take out." he said. "Prepare to fire beam cannons!"

"Ready!" Marks said.

"Fire at closest ship, shoot to destroy!" Mitchell ordered.

Two thin beams of blue energy lashed out from the _Odyssey _as it soared past an Ori mothership. Quickly penetrating the mothership's shields, it began striking at the mothership's hull, rapidly tearing it apart. Finishing it's pass, _Odyssey _began to double back for another pass to finish off the mothership, firing again at the wounded craft. It quickly succumbed to the brutal firing.

"Nineteen ships remaining, sir!" Marks said.

"Target the next ship!" Mitchell said, feeling _Odyssey's _damages inertial dampeners overcompensate briefly as it turned. "Marks, how much longer do you think we can keep this up?"

Marks thought about it as _Odyssey _fired, the beam cannons casting a blue hue on the bridge as they fired. "Seeing that we're only a matter of hundreds of kilometers from Earth, not for much longer, sir." he replied.

Mitchell bit his lip. "I was afraid of that." he admitted.

The mothership they were attacking exploded suddenly, filling the viewport with bright light as it shattered silently in the vacuum of space.

"Eighteen ships remaining!" Marks reported.

_Odyssey _shook as a neighboring Ori mothership retaliated for the demise of it's fellow ship. The little Earth ship quickly zoomed away to avoid it's fire.

"Shields down to ten percent." Marks said. "Approaching Earth space, sir."

Mitchell looked up and out the forward view port. Sure enough, in the far distance the blue orb that was his home planet could faintly be seen. Closer to them, it's dark side turned to them, the dim shape of the moon could be seen.

"Sir, I'm getting a transmission from the planet." Marks said. "They see the oncoming fleet, and are readying to join the attack. They're requesting our status."

"Send it to 'em Marks." Mitchell said.

"I already have sir." Marks said, then shook his head. "Their reply doesn't look good sir. All they can send to help us is an handful of F-302's to provide space and air support. The weapons platform in Antarctica is readying to attack, but they are holding off from firing until the Ori fleet is closer."

"Good idea." Mitchell said. "They attack now, and not only could the Ori stop the attack before it reaches it's target, but also pinpoint the weapons platform and take it out long before they could stage another attack." he paused for a moment, feeling the deck below him vibrate slightly as the ship worked to attack and counterattack the Ori fleet. "Are they readying any nukes to fire?"

"No sir." Marks replied. "They won't be any good against the shields of those motherships."

Mitchell thought for a moment, getting a new idea. "Marks, relay to Earth that they should ready to fire as many nuclear weapons as possible." he ordered. "Then we're going to see how many of those shields we can disable before we reach Earth."

"Yes sir." Marks said. "Message sent. Earth is responding."

_Odyssey _shook as it's shields took another blow.

"Shields are down to nine percent." Marks said. "They're on the verge of failing, sir; we'd better hurry."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Mitchell asked. "Start shooting at as many Ori motherships and disable as many of their shields as possible!"

As the progression of the ships shot past the moon, _Odyssey _broke off from where she had been in the lead and turned to face the Ori ships, lashing out with it's beam cannons at as many of them as she could as she zoomed through the formation of motherships. The motherships continued onward regardless, although _Odyssey _manages to disable the shields of many of them.

Reaching the end of the formation, _Odyssey _turned around and went back, again shooting at the motherships it passed. The shields of many of them were shut down by the time it had completed it's round. But by this point, the ship's luck had finally ran out. As Earth finally came fully into view, close enough to begin to fill the forward viewport on the bridge of the _Odyssey_, three Ori motherships broke formation and ganged up on the little ship.

It took one direct hit from an Ori beam cannon, then another. It's shields started to resist the third, but it finally punched through, skimming along the ship's nose. On the bridge, the ship jerked violently, throwing Mitchell from the command chair. Mark's station sparked as it's circuitry blew. Another fire broke loose in the rear section of the bridge.

Mitchell quickly picked himself up from off the floor, feeling the deck heave from more weapon's impacts. "Report!" he exclaimed.

"Shields have failed!" Marks said, fanning at the flames burning on his console and squinting at static-filled screens. "Our port Asgard beam cannon has been disabled! Power has failed on decks two and three! Artificial gravity has failed on deck five! Inertial dampeners have failed! Engines have failed! We're running on backup generators, and they are beginning to fail!"

"Is the beaming technology still online?" Mitchell said, hurrying over to Marks station.

Marks checked. "Barely, sir!"

"Do we have enough to get down there?" he turned and pointed at the blue planet that now filled the forward viewport.

Marks caught on. "Yes sir!" he said. "I take it that's an order to abandon ship, sir?"

"You got it, Marks!" Mitchell said, heading to his command chair and punching the comm button. "This is Colonel Mitchell..." he trailed off when he realized the comm wasn't working.

"It's failed, sir." Marks said, punching in the last few commands.

Mitchell's face scrunched up for a moment, trying to contain his fury. "Try and beam as much of the crew off the ship as possible!" he ordered, returning to the major's station. "Drop us down in a great big field, I don't care where!"

"Sensors are limited, sir." Marks said. "If you could give me an exact location..."

"Auburn Kansas!" Mitchell replied quickly. "You should find a big field about a mile out from the biggest city in the area!"

Marks worked at the controls for a moment. "Found it!" he said.

"Good, now beam us down there before those blasted Ori blast _us _away!" Mitchell ordered.

Marks reply came in the form of a flash of light, whisking Mitchell, Marks, and many crew members off the _Odyssey _and away to Earth. They all reappeared as group in the middle of a field of wheat. The first thing Mitchell did was reel around to see who had managed to get off the ship with him and Marks. Easily twenty to thirty crew members were present, but no more. Frowning, Mitchell then turned back around to get a better idea of where they were in the field he had directed Marks to beam them to, and noticed for the first time an elderly farmer sitting on an idling tractor only a few feet from where the survivors from the _Odyssey _stood.

Mitchell forced a grin, seeing that Marks had indeed beamed them exactly to the spot he had suggested, a field that had neighbored his home where he grew up. He knew it and it's owner well.

"Hey, Mr. Haverson." he greeted politely, waving. "Nice day, isn't it?"

The farmer, Mr. Haverson, simply just stared at Mitchell, too dumbfounded to speak.

* * *

When the Ori motherships detected _Odyssey's _beaming technology activate, cluing them in that the crew was evacuating the ship, they broke off their attacks and went to join the other ship's, quickly surrounding the planet. As they came into position, they scanned the planet, and began targeting certain places on the planet believed to be problematic in the attack, and were to be destroyed when the command was given.

One Ori ship hovered over Antarctica, targeting the McMurdo Air Force Base, completely overlooking the Antarctic Outpost relatively nearby. There, deep underground, was the Ancient control chair, active and ready to fire.

Monitoring the mothership's progress remotely from a computer sitting on a table, was a Captain Kelvin, an Air Force officer from McMurdo base who was the only officer he knew the most about the Antarctic Outpost that could be spared at the moment. He was currently, and unwillingly, in command of the facility, as it had been evacuated of most of it's personnel some time before the Ori arrived. He was hoping a replacement would arrive shortly, but as the Ori fleet drew nearer, began to doubt that hope coming true any time soon.

The only other people present in the outpost were a handful of airmen guarding the facility unless an armed firefight should, for some reason, break loose, and a Dr. Freeman, whom Kelvin knew very little about, other than that he was one of the scientists who had studied the Ancient control chair thoroughly _and _had an ATA gene, and had been trained to use the chair and use it right should a situation such as this ever come up.

Kelvin turned to him, seeing the scientist sitting calmly in the chair, active and reclined, slowly spinning.

"You ready?" the nervous captain asked.

"As I'll ever be." Freeman replied.

"There's an alien ship directly above us in orbit." Kelvin said. "Should be a prime first target."

"I see it." Freeman said, studying the holographic picture that hovered over the chair, turning and changing as Freeman mentally gave it commands. "When do you think I should fire?"

"Before they do, preferably!" Kelvin said a little harsher than intended. "An alien fleet is converging over our planet with the intent of wiping us out! I would think the time to fire would be now!"

"Do we have orders to fire?" Freeman asked, hesitant still.

"No, but we've lost contact with everyone else, apparently, because I can't reach anybody!" Kelvin said, motioning to the radio that was sitting next to the computer. "I think you can fire at will, though, so get the will to fire already!"

Freeman nodded, and closed his eyes, concentrating. The ground vibrated, then several yellow drone weapons shot up the shaft of ice that led in and out of the outpost, smashing through the dome that covered the shaft's entrance on the surface, and up into the air. They were upon the Ori mothership before the craft could react. The first few drones bounced harmlessly off the mothership's shields, but the next round finally punched through those shields and quickly destroyed the mothership.

Kelvin cheered as he saw the ship disappear from the computer screen. "That's one down!" he said. "Quick, blow up some more!"

Freeman nodded, and concentrated on firing again. As he did so, two Ori motherships, having seen the first mothership get destroyed, closed in on the location of the outpost. Freeman fired another wave of drones, attacking both ships simultaneously. One fell quickly, the other resisted the attack, targeting the outpost and relaying the information to the other ships before it was destroyed as well in Freeman's next attack.

Another Ori mothership closed in on the outpost, firing it's beam cannon the same time more drones were launched to attack the oncoming ship. The beam shot through the first half of drones, while the others dodged the beam and went on to the mothership to strike it's impenetrable shields. The beam continued on and hit the outpost's surface entrance, blowing it away.

Kelvin gripped the sides of the table as the outpost rocked from the impact, seeing debris rain down the ice shaft, sending a billowing cloud of dust and ice particles into the room. Power in the room flickered, but the chair remained active.

"Freeman..." Kelvin urged.

Freeman's brow was furrowed as he concentrated on firing again. By this point, the attack mothership came to hover over the outpost, and fired it's beam cannon downward at the outpost. The beam hit the shaft leading into it head on, burrowing it's way on down to the bottom. Freeman fired another wave of drones as the beam journeyed down, but were caught in the beam and had nowhere to go to avoid it.

The last thing Kelvin remembered was seeing the yellow light of the beam reach the end of the shaft and explode, washing yellow energy over the outpost's interior, and thinking that he wasn't going to need a replacement after all.

* * *

The Antarctic Outpost destroyed, mothership turned it's guns onto McMurdo, destroying it as well. Another took out Area 51. All the other remaining Ori ships then fired upon their own designated targets, hitting all the military bases, US or foreign, that could launch nuclear weapons, blowing them into oblivion.

Ori fighters where then launched, and they came shooting down into Earth's atmosphere, continuing the attack. Halfway to the planet's surface, they were met with a fleet of F-302's, slowing the alien fighters slightly, but not standing enough of a chance against them to stop them. The Ori fighters eventually punched their way through, tracking down the bases, air carriers, and so forth that were launching the F-302s and any other aircraft that had been launched against the Ori and destroyed them.

By this point, word of what was happening was spreading all over the world, and everyone on the planet was quickly in a panic, watching as Earth's defenses fell in battle, wondering if and when it would be their turn...

President Henry Hayes watched the attack going forth over Washington DC from the window of the Oval Office, grim faced. He didn't need to see or hear the reports that were coming in all at once that this battle against the Ori was going very badly. That much had been very clear. Worse still was that those reports indicated that two of Earth's only interstellar warships had been destroyed and it's third and final had been out of contact for too long to be still operational. All contact with the SGC had been severed as well, and reports was that the Antarctic Outpost had been destroyed.

Earth had very little left to defend itself from the Ori.

The doors to the Oval Office opened suddenly, and a group of men, both military or agents for various agencies surged into the room, armed and at the ready. Leading them was a man in a uniform Hayes had grown to know well as the past several years.

"General O'Neill." Hayes greeted flatly.

"Mr. President." O'Neill replied in a similar manner. "In case you couldn't tell sir, this place is going to _rapidly _become a very bad place to be."

"I was just thinking the same thing, Jack." Hayes said, stepping around his desk. "Let's get out of here."

"Right!" O'Neill agreed, turning and pointing at the door. "To the underground bunker!"

But before they could reach it, the sounds of weapons fire could be heard, along with a yell, before a group of Secret Service agents slipped through the door and closed it behind them. One of them approached O'Neill and Hayes.

"Enemies coming this way sirs, we're cut off." he reported.

"Oh, great." O'Neill muttered. "Just once, I'd like plan A to actually _work._"

He looked like he was about to say more on the matter when the doors leading into the Oval Office were suddenly blasted off their hinges, knocking back the men stationed to guard them. Ori warriors then poured into the room, shooting down the men that guarded the president. O'Neill grabbed Hayes and started to push him back towards the desk, drawing his own weapon, but they weren't fast enough.

Those who remained standing, a measly two guards, were quickly surrounded by Ori Warriors. Quickly, O'Neill and the other men raised their weapons to start shooting, but before they could, their weapons were whipped out of their hands and across the room by an unforseen force. It was then that the Prior entered the room, planting his staff firmly into the floor as he turned to stand before them.

"The wicked shall always receive their just reward." the Prior said. "Hallowed are the Ori for presenting that reward."

They were silent for a moment.

"So...now what?" O'Neill asked, folding his arms behind his back. Discreetly, he pressed a button on a hidden tracker up his sleeve. "If memory serves right, usually you say something like, "convert or die", right?"

The Prior titled his head at O'Neill, unfazed. "Yes." he replied simply.

O'Neill rolled his eyes. "Like I didn't see that coming." he muttered to Hayes.

"Those who choose the path to wickedness disgust the Ori with their horridness." the Prior said. "They must be brushed away from the sight of the Ori. All who fail to see this are truly wicked indeed." he paused, grinning. "Besides, your planet cannot stop the Ori. It is useless to resist their power."

"Well, you haven't seen us 'resist' at our fullest yet." Hayes said confidently.

It was then that a low hum rang out into the room. O'Neill quickly turned and grabbed Hayes around the middle, and both vanished in the flash of light resulting from them being beamed away to an unknown location. The Ori warriors opened fire in an attempt to stop the attempt to escape, but were far too late, their shots whizzing haphazardly around the room. The Prior scowled sternly, annoyed at being outsmarted, but vowed to never let it happen again...

* * *

In the streets of New York City, traffic had come to a total stand still as people stopped their cars and turned and fled while Ori fighters whizzed around above the city, clearly seen. The fleeing wasn't organized, nor in any precedented direction. It was just wherever the Ori were not. One man, however, was more curious than frightened, and stood in the street, calmly watching the alien craft zing back and forth over head.

One dropped down at an intersection not far from where this man stood, and dropped a circular, platform-like, device into the middle of it with a thud, then rushed off again. Curious, the man started to approach the device, then jumped back when a series of large rings shot out of the device and hovered in a stack just above it.

A light flashed up and down within the stack of rings, then fell back into the device to reveal a party of what the man presumed to be alien warriors that were clearly not there a second ago. Carrying metal staffs, this party jumped down from the device and encircled it, pointing their staffs around like weapons. After a few moments, the rings reappeared, grouping together to transport another person in.

This time it was only one person, garbed in a simple, grey, robe. He, too, carried a staff, but it wasn't at all like the ones the others carried. This one appeared to be wooden, and more intricately adorned with jewels, including a large one imbedded in it's top that almost seemed to glow under it's own power.

The person was looking right at the man as he appeared on the device, giving the man the impression that the robed person knew that this man would be there. The man regarded the odd figure for a moment, seeing that his skin was very pale and decorated with odd tattoos, or, more likely, scars. His eyes were grey, yet looked to be very knowing. Otherwise, he was very human in appearance, a fact that surprised the man somewhat.

Slowly, the man approached. The newcomers did nothing to stop his approach. Finally, the man stood at the edge of the encirclement of warriors, looking up at the person that stood on the device.

"Who are you?" the man finally asked.

"I am a Prior of the Ori." the figure replied.

The man frowned, not understanding, but saved those questions for a more pressing one on his mind. "Why are you here?" he asked. "Are you here to invade and conquer our planet?"

"No." the Prior replied. "I am here to enlighten your path to salvation..."


	7. Escape

Not entirely satisfied with all the logic in this chapter, and I'm starting to think I should've done things bit differently with Landry. Oh well, I think it all works out in the end. This chpt. focuses entirely on things happening in the SGC.

And sorry again for _another _late chapter. By all accounts, it should've been up yesterday, but I had to leave for work before I could finish uploading. :|

Chapter Seven

Escape

The battle within the SGC was clearly not going well. As SG-1 wandered the corridors with General Landry in tow, they found evidence of heavy battle all over. Occasionally, dead Ori warriors would be found, but usually all they saw were dead soldiers who had died fighting to protect the facility. Carter recognized the airman she had talked to when the Ori invasion began among the dead and felt a pang of remorse.

"I hope everybody else had the sense to evacuate." Vala remarked as they wandered the corridors.

"As we probably should do." Tomin added. "The Ori will hunt us down when they learn we attacked the Orici."

"Too bad we can't give the order to the remaining base personnel to evacuate." Daniel thought out loud. "That would guarantee everyone left in this place got out of here."

"I would think doing that would give away our position, though, Daniel." Vala remarked.

"Besides, I already thought of that." Carter said, leading the group. "Seeing how efficient the Ori have been in cutting us off from all the vital systems, I would imagine the evacuation protocols would be among them."

"So activating the self-destruct is out, then." Landry guessed.

"Yes sir, they probably hit that first once they infiltrated the base." Carter said.

"Well, we can't let these blasted Ori go free to get off this base." Landry growled.

"I don't think we have much of a choice, sir." Carter said. "The Ori appear to have near to complete control of the SGC, and there's not enough of us to take back the base on our own."

"So what now?" Landry asked.

"I think our best bet is get to the surface and go and get backup and then try and retake the base." Carter said.

"But what good will that do?" Daniel asked. "We're not going to be able to do much up there."

"Doctor Jackson is correct, Colonel Carter." Teal'c said. "The Ori are not taking from only one direction."

"Right, the Ori fleet is coming to attack from space as well." Daniel pointed out. "If they haven't gotten here already, in fact."

"Daniel, what else could we do?" Carter asked. "We need to get help!"

"No, Daniel's right for once, I think going to the surface would be a very bad idea." Vala agreed.

"So where are we supposed to go then?" Landry asked. "We certainly can't stay her and wait for the Ori to finish us off!"

"Well..." Vala began, thinking the answer was obvious, "...there's always the Stargate."

Carter stopped, causing everyone else to stop as well.

"Yes, that could work." she said.

"But we just left there!" Daniel objected. "I thought we agreed that was going to be a very bad place to be here shortly!"

"It is." Carter agreed. "But Vala's right. The gate's going to be the best way to get out of here. And better still, we can go wherever we want in the galaxy to rally together as much help as we can to try and stop the Ori."

"But then we'll be leaving your planet in the hands of the Ori." Tomin objected.

"Personally, Tomin, I think it already is in their hands." Vala said."

"Okay, so we got to get to the gate." Landry summarized. "What else?"

"Well, seeing that the control room is gone, we need to figure out a way to dial it." Carter said. "That'll actually be easy, though, because all we'll need to do is plug in a computer with a dialing program into the system somewhere near the gate. The briefing room, for instance, should have everything we need. And I've got a laptop with a, granted, outdated version of the dialing program, but it'll work."

"What don't you have in your lab, Sam?" Daniel asked semi-sarcastically.

"Supplies." Carter answered. "If we are going to try and escape through the Stargate, we'll need a lot more supplies such as food and weapons than what we've got right now."

"That would take some time to collect." Teal'c said. "We should hurry."

"Muscles is right, we're not going to have much time to do all of this." Vala agreed.

"Yes, one of Adria's first commands when she regains consciousness is to cut off all means of escape, including the Stargate." Tomin agreed.

"Maybe we should spilt up, so one group could go and get supplies while the other secures the gate room long enough to escape." Landry suggested.

Carter bit her lip. "I'll need at least five people to collect and carry supplies, sir." she said. "That doesn't leave many people left to stage an attack against the gate room."

Landry turned to Tomin. "Do you think one person could take the gate room long enough to engage the Stargate?" he asked.

Tomin thought. "I've seen your teams defeat whole regiments on their own before general." he said. "If one was skilled enough, it's theoretically possible. I would be willing to offer suggestions to aide, even..."

"Then it's settled." Landry said, reloading the weapon he had been given. "I'm going to retake the gate room."

"Sir, you can't!" Carter intervened. "With all due respect, sir, you wouldn't stand a chance! It'll be a suicide mission!"

"Colonel, I was once hunted for eight days by North Vietnamese armies for eight days, and the odds were against me then." Landry said, his mind made up. "Yet I survived. If I could survive then, then I can survive now. I'll run and get the laptop and get the Stargate up and running while the rest of you get supplies."

"Sir, the only way to take back the gate room is to do it together!" Carter persisted. "One man couldn't do it alone! I don't see why we should even consider this!"

"Colonel, we don't have all the time in the world to do this!" Landry said. "Splitting up would save precious time we could use combating this invasion, so splitting up we shall! Besides, it was my idea, so I'll do it!"

"Sir, with all due respect, it's a stupid idea! You should..." Carter began, but Landry cut her short.

"Colonel, that's an order!" Landry exclaimed. "I'll be fine, now go!"

Carter hesitated a moment, then nodded, and turned to leave, the others following. Landry watched them go, then nodded.

"Let's roll." he said to himself, and hurried off to, first, Carter's lab to get the laptop, then straight to the gate room...

* * *

When Adria was found left in Landry's office later by a Prior and gently reawakened now worse for wear, Adria was beside herself with rage.

"They will not get away with this." she muttered as she paced the room, her eyes flashing with anger.

"Not even the teaching of Origin allude to the wicked being this determined." the Prior quietly agreed. "But those same teachings state that the wicked cannot defeat the Ori, a fact you know very well, hallowed Orici."

"Yes, I know." Adria said, then paused. "What is the status of the invasion?" she asked.

"We have secured most of the facility of evil, but parts still remain beyond our grasp." the Prior reported. "Many have died and ascended to join their brethren in the battle, but we do have the upper hand."

Adria snorted with annoyance. Taking the SGC was proving harder than she had hoped.

"On another note, I do have good news." the Prior continued. "Our ships have penetrated this planet's pitiful defenses and are now in orbit. They have launched their fighters and control over the planet is slowly becoming that of the Ori. Preaching of the good word of Origin has already begun, and is showing promise."

"At least we have that." Adria said, glancing briefly out the window of Landry's office, then paused, and did a double take.

She stepped out into the briefing room and looked out the shattered windows down at the Stargate below, a plan starting to come together.

"Is any of those ships close to our position?" Adria inquired of the Prior.

"Many." the Prior replied.

"Can one be sent for to be stationed over this facility?" Adria continued.

"Yes." the Prior said, but titled his head, curious. "What is it that we are planning?" he asked.

"Are there any rings anywhere in this base?" Adria asked.

"Not that I am aware of." the Prior said.

"Then we will need some." Adria said, and pointed out the briefing room window down at the floor of the gate room. "Right there will do."

"Forgive my asking, hallowed Orici, but how shall it be done?" the Prior asked.

"The Ori are all powerful, Prior." Adria said with a grin. "A way shall be provided." she looked past the Stargate and at the opening in the ceiling of the room, all that remained of the missile silo that had used to occupy the facility. "Prior, send the order to recall all warriors within the general vicinity of this room to the Stargate. All who are further than that are to leave the base by any other means possible." her grin grew. "We are leaving."

* * *

Landry knew what he was getting himself into when he volunteered himself to singlehandedly go and secure the gate room, and in retrospect, had to agree with Carter. It probably was a fruitless suicide mission. And after he had obtained the laptop with the dialing computer from Carter's lab, (which was thankfully along the way to the gate room) he had nearly talked himself out of it.

But then he realized that during the entire time since he had broken off from SG-1 and been wandering these corridors alone, he had seen a single living Ori warrior. At first he didn't think a thing of it. Then he considered it to merely be luck siding to his cause. Now he thought it was just downright odd.

Just hours ago it seemed like the base was swarming with Ori warriors. Now he was trouble finding one. Where did they all go, he wondered. Did they head to the surface? Surely they couldn't have all been beaten. And it seemed unlikely they'd flee. Were they perhaps regrouping for another attack? And if so, what for? Seemed like they were doing just fine before.

But then there was an upside to all of this. If there were no Ori warriors around, then getting to the gate room and dialing out through the Stargate would prove to be much easier than any of them had ever suspected. They had a chance to do it, and they should take it. So take it they will, Landry ultimately decided.

He continued onward to gate room in the end. He had a radio, and was tempted to relay his progress to the others, and inform them that this was looking to be much easier than they first had suspected, but ultimately decided to play it safe. Suppose SG-1 wasn't having the same luck he was, and were currently in hiding? Contacting them risked giving away their location.

Besides, Landry could be completely mistaken and find that taking the gate room, even temporarily, would be much harder than he thought, and he should really confirm his theory before relaying it to others. He remembered a time much earlier in his career in the military where he had failed to do that, and it nearly cost not only his life, but the lives of others as well.

No, this was a good idea. He was confident of that. And if he ever changed his mind, well, the radio was right there, not going anywhere. It wasn't like he wasn't going to get another chance. Same went with his whole objective of retaking the gate room himself. If he at some point ever came to his senses before he got there and decided not to do it, he could always go back.

Eventually, as Landry neared the gate room, he finally caught sight of a party of Ori warriors, seeing them walking past the adjoining tunnel Landry stood in, hidden from their sight. They were heading for the gate room. Landry wondered why, but again wondered if this was as good idea as it had first seemed. Maybe Adria, having come to since he last saw her, determined that he and SG-1 were going to try and escape through the Stargate and was rallying her forces to guard the device and prevent that from happening.

And Landry had to admit that was a good tactic. He knew that, presuming he succeeded and secured the gate room lone enough for him and the rest to escape through it, that they presented a much greater risk to the Ori off world. By keeping them stranded on Earth, Adria knew it would be easier to control them.

Landry had just about convinced himself to retreat, mentally kicking himself for not listening to Carter's advice and even thinking this was a good idea in the first place, when he realized the path those warriors had come from. Waiting for them to pass, Landry hurried to the center of the T-shaped intersection and looked back down the path the warriors had just left. All there was down there was a single staircase. The warriors probably had just made use of it.

Landry knew that staircase led up to level 27, where the briefing room and his office were at. In fact, the staircase exited right near there. Curious, he looked back down the corridor where the warriors had gone, heading for the gate room, then back to the staircase. Perhaps curious, Landry moved to the staircase and quietly moved up it. At the top, he found nothing, so he deemed it safe and continued forward, and quickly found himself in the corridor that ran along one side of the briefing room and his office.

Finding it ironic that he was back here already, Landry peered down the corridor and saw two Ori warriors standing guard of the office door, the pair SG-1 had stunned in order to rescue him from having been replaced. Landry expected more guards this time, but wasn't going to complain. Pulling out the zat he carried, he shot the unsuspecting pair, stunning them, and moved forward and into his office.

It was void of anything living save himself. Looking through the star map window into the briefing room, Landry saw the briefing room was empty as well. A low hum could also be heard. Very perplexed now, Landry positioned himself so he could look through the star map window and out the broken briefing room window as well into the upper portion of the gate room.

He was very surprised to see an Ori fighter hovering there.

"What are they up to now?" he muttered aloud, and started to pull out his radio to inform SG-1about this despite his instincts, when the Ori fighter distracted him again.

Reorienting itself so that it's nose pointed the other way, the craft dropped something big and heavy, allowing it to fall to the floor of the gate room. It crashed to it floor with a large, echoing bang. The fighter then turned and Landry caught sight of it flying up the no longer used missile silo the gate shared the room with to fly back to the surface. It was probably how the fighter got down here to begin with.

Landry was only further puzzled until he remembered reading a mission report that described an Ori fighter dropping a set of rings down to a planet's surface to transport troops to the surface. As the SGC didn't have it's own set of rings, it made sense this would be done here as well. His theory was confirmed when he heard the sound of the rings activating. But were the rings there to help transport in more troops, or for a different reason?

* * *

Meanwhile, Carter led the team to the gate room, all slightly ladened down with the needed supplies they had gathered. They had encountered little resistence, a fact Carter was thankful for, and hoped Landry was having similar luck. She was just about to call to find out when Landry called her.

"Landry to Colonel Carter, come in please." Landry's voice crackled over the radio.

"Carter here." Carter replied into her radio. "Good to hear your voice sir, what's your status?"

"I'm in my office, just outside the briefing room." Landry reported. "Hardly met anybody on my way here."

"That's good sir." Carter said, surprised.

"You'd think so, but then these Ori guys are up to something in the gate room." Landry said. "I just caught sight of one of their fighters flying around in there."

Carter came to a sudden stop at this announcement. "Excuse me sir, but did you say an Ori fighter?" she repeated, almost not believing it.

"How did they get _that _down here?" Daniel asked, listening.

"They flew the thing down the old missile silo." Landry explained. "It came, dropped a set of rings in the room, then left again. Currently, I can hear the rings working. Something is being transported, but I have moved into position to find out."

Carter bit her lip. "That's not good news sir." she admitted. "That means that there's at least one Ori mothership in orbit to receive the matter stream."

"That means the Ori fleet has arrived." Tomin realized gravely.

"What about Mitchell on the _Odyssey _and the other two ships we sent to stop them?" Vala asked, sounding worried.

"Most likely defeated in battle." Teal'c responded gravely.

"I was thinking the same thing." Landry said through the radio, overhearing. "That's not all, I saw a whole bunch of Ori warriors pass by me heading for the gate room as I was making my way here. I think there's a whole bunch of them in there at the moment."

"Why, to greet the reinforcements?" Daniel asked sarcastically.

Tomin shook his head, puzzled. "No, that cannot be it." he said. "They must be using those rings for something else."

"I think they're beaming everyone _out_." Landry said. "Hang on, I'll check."

"Once you do, sir, I would recommend, the situation allowing it, that you begin hooking up the laptop and start dialing the gate." Carter said, moving forward again. "We've gotten the supplies and are moving towards your position. We'll be there shortly, and it would be a good idea to be able to leave through the Stargate immediately..."

But she got no further for a group of five Ori warriors suddenly rounded the corner and opened fire upon the team. Quickly, the team ducked to shelter and returned fire as the Ori warriors did likewise...

* * *

Landry quietly moved into the briefing room, and carefully peered out the broken briefing room windows towards the floor of the gate room. Sure enough, there were a pair of Ori rings in the process of beaming a group of Ori warriors _out _of the base. A group about twice that size waited for their turn to use the rings. Landry even spied Adria and her fellow Prior among those waiting.

"What are they doing?" Landry muttered to himself again, but shaking his head, and seeing that the gate room would soon be empty, pulled out the laptop, and started hooking it up to the computer system in place of a computer that had always sat in one corner of the briefing room.

Once booted up, even Landry could tell the system the SGC ran upon was a complete mess, no thanks to the Ori blowing away the control room, but straightforward enough that he quickly had the dialing program on the laptop up and running and interconnected with the Stargate, ready to dial.

That done, Landry peered back out the briefing room window to see the progress of the remaining Ori forces in their apparent evacuation. The last party to leave was stepping onto the platform, getting ready to ring out, Adria and the Prior were the last to get on. Once safely on the platform, however, Landry was startled to see Adria look up in his direction, her eyes glowing brightly for a moment. Yet she smiled. Then the rings shot upward and whisked the group away in a flash of light, leaving the gate room empty.

Getting a very bad feeling, Landry turned his attention back to the laptop, and picked out an address to dial to. He selected the first address that led to an unpopulated planet, P3X-234, and started the dialing sequence. Outside in the gate room, the Stargate's inner ring started to turn...

* * *

Over Cheyenne Mountain, an Ori mothership moved to hover directly over it. Repositioning itself to bring it's sights on the opening of the missile silo, it readied to fire it's beam cannon downward at the silo...

* * *

Landry heard the "ca-chunk" of one of the gate's chevrons locking, and saw the related symbol flash on the screen of the laptop.

"Chevron four engaged." he muttered to himself.

The inner ring started to spin again. Landry then heard a loud bang somewhere near, and felt the room shake. A cloud of debris rained down on the Stargate from the opened missile silo above it, clattering nosily around it. One piece of debris struck one of the large cables attached to the gate, providing the power. It sparked, and then the gate suddenly stopped dialing. A message appeared on the laptop screen, stating that there had been a "system error" and the dialing sequence had been suspended.

Landry stood, staring out the briefing room window. "She didn't." he said, realizing what was happening.

But then he heard another bang and more debris rained down out of the missile silo.

"She did." Landry said.

Then the yellow bolt of an Ori beam cannon shot through the missile silo and hit the Stargate, creating an explosion the quickly engulfed the gate room and all surrounding areas...

* * *

The fight between SG-1 and the Ori warriors hadn't gotten very far when a loud bang rang out and the hallway started to shake. Everyone fell to the floor. The lights flickered, then went out, switching to the emergency lights. A cloud of dust cannoned out from around the corner, quickly filling the hallway. Something sparked, and a pipe burst, letting heated steam pour into the room.

A crumbling sound could be heard, then everything fell somewhat silent. Everyone started to pick themselves up coughing on the dust. One or more of the Ori warriors fired his staff weapon blindly. Carter reacted by shooting her P90 in the right direction of the shots and was rewarded with a cry as her shots hit home.

Daniel and Teal'c followed Carter's example and fired their weapons as well. One or both of them hit their targets. Vala fired off a zat, and didn't seem to hit anything, but in the cover of the zat's shot, Tomin fired his own staff weapon and hit another warrior. The battle then dried up.

"Is everybody alright?" Daniel called out, coughing on the smoke.

"I'm flattered that you care, Daniel." Vala remarked, working her way towards Daniel, tripping on something on the floor in the process. "Not that I like stating the obvious, but I think something bad happened."

"What _did _happen?" Carter asked as she joined them.

Teal'c and Tomin scouted ahead to check to see if all the Ori warriors had been defeated. Tomin bent down at one of the fallen, hanging his head in morning for the lost life. Teal'c turned to look around the corner.

"Colonel Carter!" he exclaimed. "You will want to see this."

Carter came over to join Teal'c at the corner of the hallway, and cursed.

The hallway had caved in, and was now completely filled with rubble. The others came to look.

"The Stargate is on the other side of that, isn't it?" Tomin asked slowly, pointing at the rubble with the end of his staff weapon.

"Yep." Vala replied gravely.

"General Landry?" Teal'c inquired of Carter.

Carter shook her head. "Not likely." she said, answering the unspoken question.

"Well, this explains why the Ori were all leaving." Daniel said.

They stood there staring at the caved in hallway for several moments.

"So...now what?" Vala asked.

"The only thing we can do." Carter replied, lowering her weapon. "Head for the surface, and take our chances up there."


	8. Overwhelmed

Okay, I'm terribly sorry this chpt is so late. But I have a good reason why. Been working more hours at my job, and thus I have less time to access my laptop and type. And admittedly, this fanfic has been moved to the back burner. So updates are probably going to become infrequent from here on out.

However, there is a good side to all of this, as it allows me to spend more time on these chapters, and I think this chapter shows it significantly.

Mitchell-centric chpt. OC who will probably tag along for the rest of the fanfic is introduced.

Chapter Eight

Overwhelmed

"Mr. Haverson, have you been near a radio, or a TV, or seen anything odd recently?" Mitchell asked, approaching the man on the tractor quickly.

Haverson for a moment didn't reply, and simply stared at Mitchell in disbelief, still stunned by his sudden appearance in the farmer's field. Then Haverson shook his head, looking to be snapping out of it.

"Cam, I've lived next door t' ya for the past twenty years." he said in an almost scolding tone. "You know me well, so you tell me. Would I have been near a TV or radio in the past five hours?"

Mitchell couldn't help but grin. Same old Mr. Haverson. "No sir, I suppose you wouldn't have." he agreed, but then turned very serious. "Mr. Haverson, I highly recommend you get to one. There isn't time for me to explain what's happening, and it's important that you know. Now, have you been aware of anything odd happening around here?"

"Another question you already you know the answer to." Haverson replied. "Nothin' but nothin' happens around here, and you know it."

Mitchell had to nod in agreement again. "Very true." he admitted. "Unfortunately, it won't stay that way for very long now. Now Mr. Haverson, forget the field and go get your family together, grab a radio, and get someplace safe, maybe underground if you can manage it."

"What, is a tornado coming?" Haverson asked, puzzled.

"Something worse, Mr. Haverson." Mitchell replied.

"Worse than people appearin' out of thin air in my field?" Haverson asked skeptically.

"Oh yeah." Mitchell assured him. "Please, just take my word for it."

Haverson frowned, and switched off the tractor. "Young whippersnapper." he could be heard muttering as he walked off to follow Mitchell's suggestions regardless.

Mitchell then turned to face the group gather nearby, all who seemed to remain of the crew of the _Odyssey_. Couple of them looked a bit bemused, like Mitchell, despite the situation.

"Who was that, sir?" Marks asked.

"Family friend." Mitchell replied, then changed the subject. "All right, listen up everyone! You all know the situation and what's at stake! I want all of you to pair up, and make sure none of you leave here on your own, and then go and gather your families if you have any and make sure you and yourselves get to someplace safe as possible! If they ask why, tell them! All the secrets about the Stargate Program are probably about to be thrown out a window if they haven't already!"

"Now I realize for most of you that your families are nowhere near here, and thus would be hard to get to. I'm sorry for that, but there's little that can be done about it. Try and get to them by any means possible. I would suggest by automobile if possible. Traveling by plane probably isn't the safest way to travel anymore now that the Ori are here."

"I also realize that some of you think that there are other, more important things, you could be doing than hiding. And maybe there are. But the Ori are here, and we _all _know what that means, and what they will do. It's very important that we, the human race, discover a way to overcome them, and for now this is the way to do it. By making sure we survive, yet not give in to their rule, and to do that, we must run and hide so we can live to fight again. But, once you have your families and any loved ones to safety, you may seek out a way to fight back at the Ori if you so choose. I know I will, so the rest of you might as well have that option as well. Am I clear?"

There were several nodding heads and murmured replies of yes. Mitchell looked them over for a moment, then continued.

"Who here has weapons of any sort?" he called out. "Pistols, P90s, zats, anything?"

Hands were raised. Mitchell quickly counted them and was pleased to see there would be more than enough to go around. Clearly, some of these people had the sense to stop at an armory before abandoning the _Odyssey_.

"I want at least one weapon per group." Mitchell ordered. "Share if you must, but I don't want anybody leaving this spot unarmed. We are in a war people, and this war has just moved to the home front. If you encounter any Ori warriors or anything of the sort, don't hesitate to shoot, but don't get yourselves killed doing it, either. I want everybody to keep a clear mind, okay? If the odds are against you, then don't engage in a battle. We will need everyone who can fight in the days to come, I believe. And remember, unless Marks here is a miracle worker and managed to beam down some Anti-Prior devices before we jumped ship..." he glanced at the major, who shook his head. "...which he did not, the Priors are invulnerable to our attacks. Avoid them at all costs. They'll figure out who you are and what you plan to do in a heartbeat and likely won't take to your presence kindly. Now, before we all part ways, is all of _that _clear?"

Again, there were replies that everyone understood Mitchell's commands. After that, weapons were handed out. There turned out to be more leftover than even Mitchell had expected, so they were distributed out again until they were all taken. This done, everyone spilt into groups, and then the groups started to walk off, heading for the nearest road; the closest being a dirt road that ran along one edge of Haverson's field. Beyond it Mitchell could make out a very familiar farm standing there on the other side, and made a smug expression briefly before starting towards it.

"Marks, you come with me." Mitchell said, motioning at the major with the pistol he held in one hand. "Time for you to meet the family."

* * *

The two stepped up to the front door of the little home that sat across from Haverson's field. Mitchell paused there, as if gathering courage, then rang the doorbell and waited. No one came to the door. Mitchell rang the bell again, then rapped on the door itself.

"Perhaps they're not home, sir." Marks offered politely.

"Oh, they're home." Mitchell said, rapping on the door again. "They have to be."

They waited some more as Mitchell continued to alternate between ringing the doorbell and knocking on the door. Marks was about to propose again that maybe they weren't home when the door finally opened and an elderly lady appeared at the door. She seemed quite taken aback to see Mitchell standing there at the door.

"Cameron!" she exclaimed.

"Hey, mom." Mitchell greeted, feeling a bit awkward. "How are you doing?"

"Wh-what are you doing here, why didn't you call and say you were coming?" Mitchell's mother said in a scolding tone. She glanced her son over briefly, her eyes falling on the pistol in Mitchell's hand for a moment, but didn't mention it.

"Because I didn't know I would be coming here until about..." Mitchell paused and glanced at his watch, "...fifteen minutes ago." he paused for a moment again. "Dad home?" he asked. "I really need to talk to you two."

"We need to talk to you too, I was just about to call you." Mitchell's mother said, opening the door further to let them in. "Have you been watching the news?"

"No, but I have a pretty good idea what's on it at the moment." Mitchell admitted as he and Marks entered the house. "That's...uh...that's kinda why I'm here. See..."

But now Mitchell's mother noticed Marks for the first time and looked over at him. "Who's this?" she asked, interrupting Mitchell's explanation.

"Oh, Mom, this is Major Marks, a...uh...coworker from the Air Force." Mitchell said, glancing back at Marks briefly. "Marks, meet my mom, Wendy Mitchell."

"Pleasure to meet you ma'am." Marks greeted, extending his hand for Wendy to shake.

Wendy ignored it, returning her attention to Mitchell. "Cam, I don't think you know what's on the news otherwise you wouldn't be so calm about it!"

"Oh, trust me, I'm only calm on the surface." Mitchell assured her.

"So you know about this alien invasion all the news networks have been going on about?" Wendy asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"More than you know." Mitchell admitted, looking embarrassed. "Look, I have a lot to explain, and very little time to do it in. Where's Dad?"

"Wendy!" a voice called from the other room, answering Mitchell's answer. "You better get in here and listen to this!"

The three moved into the living room. Mitchell's father was sitting in an armchair, with two crutches leaning against the air of the chair. Marks noticed that Mitchell's father had prosthetic legs, a fact that he was admittedly unaware of until now. Standing over the chair was a teenager about seventeen or eighteen in age and wore glasses. Both were staring at the TV screen, which was displaying a special news report.

Mitchell's eyes immediately fixed on the teenager, not recognizing him. "Who are you?" he asked.

The two turned to look at Mitchell. Mitchell's father blinked in surprise. "Cameron!" he exclaimed, and looked as it he intended to stand up for a moment, then thought against it. "When did you...why are you...Well, no matter what, I'm glad you're here, Cam, where I know you're generally safe." he paused, seeing Marks standing behind the three who had entered. "Who's that?"

"I asked first." Mitchell objected, and pointed at the teenager. "Who's this guy?"

"Cam, answer my question first!" Mitchell's father barked.

"He's Major Marks, Frank." Wendy replied flatly. "A coworker of Cam's."

"A pleasure to meet you, sir..." Marks said, moving forward to shake Frank's hand, but was stopped by Mitchell.

"Marks, forget the niceties for a moment." he said, then turned once again to the teenager. "Who are you?"

"Peter Haverson." the teenager replied hotly, folding his arms.

"He's Mr. Haverson's grandson." Wendy went on to explain. "He came up here looking for a summer job, and got one here, helping us around the farm. Didn't you get my letter explaining all of this?"

Mitchell blushed. "It...uh...must be under the mess of paperwork I have sitting on my desk." he admitted, embarrassed. He then shook his head, clearing his thoughts. "Anyway, nice to meet you Peter. Now, I need to talk to you guys about something..."

"I'm presuming it has something to do with this." Frank interrupted, gesturing to the TV he had started watching again.

Mitchell turned his attention to the TV for the first time. A female reporter was standing, outside, to one side of the screen. In the background, hovering over a city skyline was the all-too familiar shape of an Ori mothership.

Mitchell sighed. "Yeah." he admitted, glumly.

"...claims indicate that they are here under benign circumstances." the reporter was saying regarding the Ori that were no doubt swarming all over the planet by now. "Yet, their actions do not indicate it. We have all seen for ourselves that these aliens, or whomever they are, have attacked any vehicle that approaches and attacks them, reaping devastation wherever they go. We have also confirmed that these aliens have attacked military bases all over the world, including US facilities such as McMurdo Air Force Base, McClellan Air Force Base, Fort Richardson, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Naval Research Laboratory, Cheyenne Mountain..."

"Uh-oh." Mitchell said at this. "So much for plan B."

"Escaping through the Stargate, sir?" Marks inquired.

"Yep." Mitchell said.

"Stargate?" Peter asked, distractedly. "What's that?"

Mitchell paused for a moment. "Would you all believe that it's directly tied in with all of this?" he asked.

Everyone save Marks looked at him.

"What are you getting at, Cam?" Frank asked.

"Well, it's this alien device that creates wormholes to other similar devices scattered all about the galaxy..." Mitchell began to explain, making motions with his hands to go along.

"What?" Wendy asked, blinking in surprise. "Is _that _what you've been involved with these past few years?"

"Kinda, yeah." Mitchell admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "That obvious?"

"Wait, wait, wait." Peter said. "So you're saying there's this alien device capable of going to other planets?"

"In short, yeah." Mitchell said.

"Just how long have you had dealing with this device?" Frank asked.

"Uh, that depends on how you look at it." Mitchell admitted. "Technically, only for two, maybe three, years. But then I've known about the device since...er..."

"So wait, you've actually stepped _through _this thing?" Peter asked, remarkably perceptive. "You've _gone _to other planets?"

"Er..." Mitchell began, unsure how to answer that rather accusing question.

"Why haven't ever told us this?" Wendy demanded, looking hurt that her son kept such a big secret from her.

"It was all classified!" Mitchell exclaimed in his defense. "I couldn't tell anybody outside the SGC, not without authorization!"

"But still..." Wendy began.

"Look, what's the big deal?" Mitchell asked. "Dad didn't tell you stuff like that back in his day because it was classified!"

"Yes, but that was stuff like a new experimental jet or other stuff like that." Frank objected flatly. "Nothing at all like this Stargate thing."

"Well, I'm sorry!" Mitchell said. "It was one of those things you were probably better off not knowing, anyway!"

"A lot of good it all did in the end, though, didn't it?" Peter asked sarcastically, jerking his head at the TV, where the Ori ship could still quite plainly be seen.

"You don't have anything to do with this, you know." Mitchell said, jabbing an accusing finger at Peter. "I don't even know you!"

"Nor do I know you." Peter admitted. "But I imagine there's going to be a whole lot of people you don't know who aren't going to like the idea they've been lied to."

"I'm sorry I lied to everybody, then!" Mitchell exclaimed, at his wit's end. "Look, we'll sort this all out later. Right now, we're all in terrible danger!"

"From them?" Frank asked, pointing at the TV.

"The Ori, yes!" Mitchell said. "They aren't at all what they seem. They'll claim to spread this religion of their's called Origin..."

"We know." Peter interrupted. "They talked about it on the TV already."

"Then you should know there's not a bit of truth in it!" Mitchell went on undeterred. "The gods they claim to worship are nothing more than power hungry, superpowered aliens that would no sooner leave us to die if they so desire and could or could not be already dead."

"'Could or could not'?" Wendy repeated.

"Don't you know?" Peter asked hotly.

"Well, not really." Mitchell admitted. "They _are _in another galaxy..."

"But all the reports indicate that Merlin's weapon activated as planned just moments after going through the Supergate, sir." Marks couldn't help but add.

"That's only presuming that Vala assembled the thing right, and that Adria didn't wake up and mess things up." Mitchell pointed out.

"But Doctor Jackson knocked her out cold with the Prior powers he had obtained for a limited time just before you all were teleported off the Ori ship." Marks said.

"Yeah, and he nearly couldn't do it." Mitchell pointed out. "Remember, she's got that shield thing to protect her. Daniel admitted it took a lot of effort to force his way through it. He probably couldn't have done it if he didn't have that Anti-Prior device on hand, and..."

He trailed off, remembering suddenly who else was here, and turned to look at Peter, Frank, and Wendy, who were all looking very lost at the moment.

"Okay, starting over..." Mitchell said, preparing to begin again at his explanation.

"So I take it you know all about these Ori guys, then." Peter interrupted.

"Well, yeah, they've only been trying to conquer our galaxy for the better part of a year or more." Mitchell admitted.

"So it's no surprise that they've come here to finish us off." Peter went on.

"Well, not finish us off per say, more like try and convert us all and kill all who refuse..."

"So if you knew they were going to come and attack eventually, then why didn't you or anyone else that works with that thing you call a Stargate warn us of the danger?" Peter asked.

"Because until now, we've done a very good job at keeping them at bay and away from our planet." Marks answered for Mitchell. "And besides, imagine what would happen if we _did _tell the world about the threat of the Ori. Imagine the worldwide panic that would've brought up. By doing it this way, everyone could continue to go about their normal lives, where all they had to worry about was making a living."

"But it was all in vain in the end, wasn't it?" Peter asked. "I mean, these Ori are here _now_. And now everybody's going have to learn to fight an enemy they knew nothing about until now. Don't you think we would've been better prepared for it if you just told us?"

"Look, there's no point arguing over what we can't change!" Mitchell exclaimed. "What we should be worrying about is getting as many people as we can to safety, because these Ori will show no mercy if you get in there way, and..."

He trailed off when he suddenly noticed that the TV had gone into static. Frank, who had been watching it out of the corner of his eye while everyone else argued, blinked in surprise.

"What happened?" he asked. "Did we loose the signal?"

Mitchell then heard the front door open, and felt a mixture of surprise and alarm leap into his throat as he turned in time to see, against all odds, a Prior walk into the room.

"Marks!" Mitchell exclaimed, raising his weapon.

Marks was one step ahead of him and fired the zat he held at the Prior. It did nothing. The energy merely discharged itself moments before actually hitting the Prior. Wendy yelped at the noise of the zat discharging, and everyone stopped to stare at the Prior, a feeling of uneasiness settling into the room.

"The Ori will not allow wickedness to spread." the Prior announced bluntly once the room had fallen silent, and motioned to the static-filled screen of the TV to indicate that it was his doing.

Mitchell pointed his pistol at the Prior, even though he knew it would do him little good. "Why are you here?" he demanded.

"Those who are evil and flee from the path of Origin cannot hide from the wrath of the Ori." the Prior said. His cold eyes locked onto Mitchell's. "No matter what."

Mitchell suddenly understood. "You tracked us." he said, his aim wavering slightly. "When we beamed down from the _Odyssey,_ you tracked us to see where we went, and then came straight here."

The Prior said nothing about the claim. "You are all now faced with a choice." he said. "Continue to resist the Ori and die, or submit and obey the teachings of Origin."

For a moment, nobody moved, all torn over their own opinions. Mitchell's breath started to quicken.

"Orders sir?" Marks asked, training his zat on the Prior.

Mitchell still didn't reply. The Prior slowly raised his staff, and it started to glow, as if in preparation for something. Mitchell fired the pistol without warning at the Prior. As expected, the bullet never hit the target, but Mitchell didn't care.

"You leave my family alone!" he roared. "I've seen too many people die at your hands already, and I will not let it happen again here!"

"Then the choice is simple." The Prior said calmly, lowering his staff again without doing anything with it. "Allow me to teach you about the path of Origin, and the benefits it contains. Then you will all be permitted to live."

Mitchell paused, realizing the Prior had a point. And he was even very tempted to agree despite it all, if it meant his family would be spared.

Marks saw this. "Sir, you can't be possibly considering this, are you?" he asked.

Mitchell never got the chance to reply, because Peter suddenly shoved the two aside and dove at the Prior.

"Over my dead body!" he exclaimed.

The Prior moved like lightning, bringing his staff before him like a shield. Peter never got to even touch the staff during his reckless move though, for the Prior used his powers in this motion to throw Peter backwards and into the empty couch that sat in the room with a thump.

Marks used the distraction as a chance to shoot at the Prior with his zat, and Mitchell followed his lead, firing with his pistol. Like before it was a fruitless action, and it only brought the Prior's attention back on the pair. He knocked both of them backwards and onto the coffee table that sat behind them. It's legs cracked under the weight and fell to the floor.

Frank unsteadily got to his feet, leaning heavily on his crutches. Wendy quickly came to his side. Together, the pair of them turned to look at the Prior with frightened eyes. The Prior narrowed his eyes at them, and pointed his staff at them, making it glow. He got no further as Peter suddenly lunged out from nowhere and threw himself on the Prior, this time actually managed to wrap his fingers around the Prior's staff, trying to wrench it away from him.

The Prior simply spun around in a small circle and threw Peter off the staff. He came crashing down in a corner of the neighboring kitchen. Marks then hurried forward and managed to wrap both arms around the Prior's neck while his back was turned to the major. Surprisingly, the Prior couldn't seem to get Marks off of him, and the two struggled for a few moments. Surprisingly, it seemed Marks was actually seeming to be successfully gagging him. After a moment or two, the Prior finally fell to the floor, unconscious. Marks released him and sprang up, breathing heavily.

"I think we've found a new way to beat these guys." he announced breathlessly.

Seeing that the Prior was defeated for the moment and Peter sitting up from where he fall, Mitchell got up and grabbed the hand of his mother and jerking her in the direction of the backdoor, indicating she and Frank should follow him. Releasing the hand again, he hurried over to Peter and helped him up.

"C'mon kid, get up!" Mitchell prompted. "You all right?"

"No." Peter replied, clutching his wrist as he got up. "But I'll live. We getting out of here?"

"Yes, now let's go!" Mitchell said urgently. "Mom, Dad, c'mon!"

"Wait, what about him?" Frank asked, pausing, and pointed back at the Prior.

They looked at the Prior for a moment.

"Well, he can't be dead." Marks admitted. "I was lucky I managed to just knock him unconscious."

"Then he'll be in a _really _bad mood when he wakes up." Mitchell said, hurrying for the door. "So c'mon, let's go!"

It was then that everything went from bad to worse. The Prior's eyes suddenly snapped open again, and the staff he had dropped suddenly whooshed back into his hands. Hearing the noise, Marks stopped and turned, then was suddenly thrown aside and out of sight as an invisible force knocked him aside. A crash rang out as the major crashed into something out of sight.

"Marks!" Mitchell exclaimed.

The Prior then stood up, looking like the event of Marks choking him had never happened. His staff started to glow for the third time since his arrival, brighter than ever before.

"RUN!" Peter exclaimed, and ran out the backdoor.

Mitchell saw his parents started to turn and run as well, Wendy helping Frank to move faster. Mitchell slowed to try and help them, but they didn't move fast enough. An invisible force slammed into the threesome, and they fell to the floor. Frank yelled out in agony as they crashed on the hard floor. The Prior walked towards them ever so slowly, in no hurry. Mitchell got up and tried to help his parents up as well, but Wendy shooed her son's hand away.

"Cameron, get out of here!" she exclaimed.

"But..."

"GO! And don't look back!"

Mitchell stood rooted to the spot, seeing what his mother was getting at and wasn't about to let it happen. But the Prior didn't give him much choice, by using his telekinesis to throw Mitchell out the backdoor and to the ground. Mitchell felt his inside recoil at the sight of the Prior turning back around to face his parents, still on the floor.

Mitchell felt sick, but obeyed his mother's request, and turned and ran after Peter. Subconsciously, he knew he was going to feel the invisible grip of a Prior's telekinesis enclose upon him at any moment. But he never did. He didn't stop to think why. Mitchell did hear heard a crash and a yell as he ran, but he again obeyed his mother's instructions and didn't look back to see what had caused it. Mitchell ran on until he had caught up with Peter, several feet away from the house.

"Peter, keep going!" he barked as he saw the teen being to slow, feeling his stomach sink.

"But what about..." Peter began to object.

"GO!" Mitchell yelled, and forced Peter to keep running.

And they kept running, put all that more distance between them and the house. But before they got much more than two feet further, they were knocked off their feet as the house suddenly exploded...


	9. Rescued

New chapter. Actually bit of a slow one. Had plans for putting in more action, such as Mitchell and Peter getting caught up in a fire fight with the Ori, or some such. But I was running out of time to finish the chapter, and decided this was good enough. Some of those unused ideas can be saved for the next chapter anyway. :)

Chapter Nine

Rescued

The moment after he had hit the ground, Mitchell was back up again, whirling around to look at the smoldering crater that had been his family's home. Wide-eyed, he stood there, stunned. He was dimly aware of Peter getting up and doing the same, his brow furrowed in what looked like puzzlement.

"What happened?" he demanded.

Mitchell was silent for a moment, annoyed Peter was asking a question that seemed to have an obvious answer. "It blew up." he replied flatly.

Peter gave him a look. "_How _did it blow up?" he asked.

Mitchell shrugged. "I have a good hunch, though." he admitted.

Peter looked at the smoking crater for a moment, then looked like he suddenly was realizing something. "Now wait." he said. "What about your parents, and the major guy? Where are they?"

Mitchell just hung his head and didn't reply. But that alone was reply enough.

Peter looked shocked. "No." he said. "No, they can't be...they couldn't be...they aren't..." he trailed off, unable to pass off a lie as truth. "They're gone."

Mitchell nodded, sadly. He then shook his head, holding back tears. "C'mon, let's get out of here." he said, turning to go.

"But..." Peter said, "but...but...where will we go?"

Mitchell stopped, having not thought about it. Where _would _they go? His original plan of getting to a Stargate and getting off the planet wasn't such a good idea anymore as it was no doubt filled with Ori soldiers and Priors alike. It'd be suicide to go there now. And there wasn't going to be really anywhere on the planet that would be safe after all of this.

He was about to ask Peter for an opinion when the teenager, still staring at the crater, gasped. Mitchell spun around and saw the Prior walk out of the flaming inferno unscathed, his staff glowing. It confirmed Mitchell's suspicions that the Prior had somehow caused the explosion. The Prior hadn't looked their way just yet, but Mitchell knew it would be better that he would never get the chance.

"Run." he told Peter, grabbing his hand and leading him in the opposite direction. They ran for a long while across the field until they reached the ditch marking it's end, and quickly dropped down into it where they would be out of sight from the Prior. Though Mitchell wondered if it would be enough. After pausing for a moment to catch their breath, Mitchell started to lead Peter along some more, but the teen suddenly dragged his feet into the ground, stopping himself.

"Wait, wait!" Peter said, resisting. "That guy just killed your parents! Running should be the very _last _thing we should be doing!"

"Kid, you clearly don't understand just how much of a serious disadvantage we're at!" Mitchell exclaimed. "Those Priors simply _cannot _be defeated with mere conventual weapons! Any attempts to attack him would be suicide!"

"That major friend of yours managed to do it!" Peter pointed out.

"And he's dead!" Mitchell pointed out. "And besides, he got _really _lucky to do it even _once!_"

"Well, I'm willing to try it!" Peter persisted. "That Prior killed your parents and my friends! I will not leave without getting revenge!"

"Marks and my parents didn't die just to have us turn around and get ourselves killed!" Mitchell roared. "Now look, I'm mad too! There's nothing more than I want to do right now that kill that Prior in the most painful way possible! But I've also got a brain, and it's telling me to do the sensible thing and get out of here while we still can! We can deal with the Prior and the Ori later! They _certainly _aren't going anywhere!"

Peter hesitated, looking a little shocked at the outburst. Mitchell bit his lip in regret for losing control of his temper like that, but right now, it actually felt kind of good to vent some of his feelings.

"You're right." Peter said, hanging his head. "You're right, of course you're right. I...I just can't believe they're...you know..."

"Yeah." Mitchell said, cutting him short, hanging his own head. "I know."

They were silent for a moment. Mitchell listened for any trace of the Prior coming their way. Besides the distant crackling sound of the flaming ruins behind them, there was nothing, so he presumed the Prior had found something better to do than to chase them.

"So...now what?" Peter asked suddenly.

"Now, we run." Mitchell said, heading off again in the opposite direction of the Prior. "Then we make up the rest as we go along."

"That's it?" Peter asked, following Mitchell. "That's your plan?"

"I'm doing my best here." Mitchell growled. "Besides, I do this kind of thing everyday for a living."

"Right, the whole secret about that gate thing." Peter muttered. He looked around. "So...we're kinda on our own now, huh?"

"Pretty much." Mitchell admitted, pulling out his pistol and checking how many rounds it had left. Not many. "But hey, at least we have each other."

"Somehow I'm not reassured."

* * *

Exiting the base had actually proved to be easier than expected. SG-1 encountered no one. No one who wasn't already dead, that is. It seemed they were the only living souls left in the whole SGC. They passed so many dead bodies that the Ori had slaughtered that it pained the team of referees. But they knew now wasn't the time to stop and morn, but rather to try and find a way to survive until tomorrow.

They said little. It seemed there was very little left to be said. Tomin at one point remembered Woolsey, and wanted to go back and get him, but then Daniel flatly reminded him that the room Woolsey had been hiding in was in the section of the base that had collapsed, and was no doubt dead as well. And even if he wasn't, it was going to be impossible to get to him, for they were finding caved in tunnels everywhere, blocking any route that so much as even went past the gate room. Tomin fell silent after that.

Eventually they arrived at a shaft that led to the surface, and began the long climb up the ladder to the surface. Arriving at the top and unlocking the hatch, Carter, who was still leading, carefully lifted the hatch and peered out. From here, she could make out the side of the mountain, and hovering over it, dormant at the moment, was an Ori mothership.

"Hmm, guess I was right about what caused those tunnels to collapse." she muttered to herself, carefully slipping out of the tunnel, fully aware that the ship might be able to see them, then turned around the help out the others.

Vala took in a deep breath of fresh air once on the surface. "Well, look on the bright side." she said. "At least it's not so stuffy out here."

Daniel peered up at the mothership. "Think they can see us?" he asked.

"It's a safe bet." Carter said.

"So they could be blasting us off the face of the earth at any moment, then?" Vala asked, turning to Carter, looking crestfallen.

"No, more likely they would send a Prior to intercept us." Tomin offered unhelpfully.

"And somehow that makes everything all better." Vala muttered sarcastically.

"They have done nothing to stop us as of yet." Teal'c noted calmly. "We should leave while we are still able."

"Teal'c's right, the further we get away from this mountain, the better." Carter said, starting to walk through the forest land that surrounded them.

"Okay." Daniel said, following. "So where exactly where are we going to go?"

"Heading into town sounds like a good idea." Carter remarked, thinking of nearby Colorado Springs.

"But that's at least a couple of miles away." Vala bemoaned.

"Then we better get going." Carter said.

They started walking. They didn't encounter any resistance. Either the Ori mothership hadn't detected them after all, or it had chosen to ignore them. Thankful for the reprieve from fighting regardless, they continued on. Several hours later, they had managed to get a fair amount of distance away from the mountain and the danger it presented, but now they were just walking out in the middle of nowhere.

By this point, Vala was dragging her feet along, acting like she was overly tired. "Can't we _please _stop and rest for a bit?" she pleaded.

"Oh please, this is nothing." Daniel said, who had gotten used to walking long distances during the years he had served in the Stargate Program.

"But it's been a really, _really_, long day!" Vala bemoaned.

"Perhaps Vala's right." Tomin agreed, stopping. "We will need to conserve our strength for what's to come."

Carter paused, and glanced back at Daniel. "I suppose he's right." she said. "Everybody take five."

Daniel rolled his eyes, but was personally thankful for the break as well, and sat down on the dusty ground. The others followed. Teal'c remained standing however, looking around.

"Something up, Teal'c?" Daniel asked.

"Do you not hear that?" Teal'c inquired.

Everyone fell silent, listening. Faintly, they could hear a low humming sound. Puzzled, they joined Teal'c in looking for it's source.

"What is that?" Tomin asked, gripping his staff weapon tighter.

Carter's face brightened suddenly. "I think I know." she said.

And as if to confirm it, a Puddle Jumper suddenly materialized in mid-air over them, surprising them all. Tomin, unfamiliar with the ship, moved to shoot at it, but Teal'c quickly grabbed his weapon to prevent him from doing so.

"Don't shoot, they're friends!" Carter exclaimed for added emphasis, then waved at the pilot and his cohort sitting next to him.

The pilot returned the wave, and then landed the jumper, the back hatch opening. The group ran around to enter, the pilot's cohort moving to greet them at the door.

"Colonel Carter, I presume?" the pilot's cohort greeted.

"That's right." Carter said, accepting his hand to shake. "This is Dr. Jackson, Teal'c Vala, and Tomin."

"I'm Colonel Grey." he replied. "We were sent here on a reconnaissance mission when contact with the SGC was lost just prior to the arrive of the Ori in orbit. We were just about to think there were no survivors when we detected you guys. Care for a lift anywhere?"

"Yes!" Vala exclaimed, relieved.

"It would be appreciated." Carter said with a grin, stepping into the ship and motioning for the others to follow.

"So where did this jumper come from?" Daniel asked, curiously.

"It was a gift from Atlantis." Grey said. "They lent it to us when word of the Ori invasion force got around. We've been putting it to good use."

"For stealth, not combat, mind you." the pilot muttered once everyone was onboard and the back hatch was closed again. "Skies are swarming with Ori fighters."

"This is Dr. Jenkins, by the way." Grey went on. "He flew the jumper here from Atlantis."

"And I would've turned the job down if I had known what it was going to require of me." Jenkins muttered as they took off once again, under the protection of the jumper's cloak again. "I could've been studying Atlantis's star drive instead of this."

"Now, now, Jenkins." Grey interrupted. "Focus on flying us to our destination and not grumbling."

"To where are we going, anyway?" Teal'c asked.

"A hidden underground bunker located a mile from Washington DC." Grey replied. "It's where we've been moving all the survivors from the attacked bases and the such. The president is there as well. You should be interested in it, colonel. It incorporates a great deal of alien technology we have obtained through the Stargate Program. Like that Asgard beaming technology." he paused, sighing. "It's going to be a little bit until we get there, however." he went on. "I understand you've all just got out of there, and probably don't want to think about it, but in order to understand the enormity of the situation we're in, we need to know what happened in that base."

Carter nodded in understanding. "We can do that." she said, and began telling the tale.

* * *

Mitchell and Peter walked on for a great amount of time, until they finally arrived at another farm. Even at a first glance, Mitchell could tell the owners weren't at home. It was dark, and it's open garage was empty of any and all vehicles. He hoped the owners had left on their own choice, and not because of the Ori, though.

Still, it looked like shelter, and they probably could use some of that at the moment, so Mitchell led Peter to the back door.

"Wait here." he told the teen, and moved to the door, slowly opening it, peering inside.

Peter watched him for a moment, then heard something move behind him. Turning, he saw an Ori warrior step around one side of the house, lowering his staff weapon to point at Peter. Crying out in alarm, Peter pressed himself into the side of the house, searching for someplace to hide in, but it was in vain. Just when he thought the warrior was going to shoot, a gunshot suddenly rang out, and shot the warrior down dead. He fell to the ground.

Mitchell suddenly appeared at Peter's side and quickly pulled him around to the other side of the house.

"Stay here!" he ordered, then gripped his pistol and went back around the corner of the house and out of sight.

Peter stood there for a moment, unsure how he should react. He jumped when he heard two more gunshots ring out, and then several softer noises that could be some kind of weapon firing as well. Pretty soon, all was silent again.

"Colonel?" Peter whispered after a moment. "You still there?"

He jumped when Mitchell suddenly reappeared, carrying two staff weapons, panting slightly, but unharmed.

"Here, catch." he said, tossing one to Peter. "Grip it here, press here to shoot." he then grabbed Peter and pulled him back to the back door where two more Ori warriors had joined the first.

"What? Shoot?" Peter asked, nervous at the idea.

"Yeah, shoot anything that comes around that corner." Mitchell said, pointing at the other corner of the house. "There's a set of rings and a fighter over there. Probably more hiding somewhere. I'm going to go in here and look for a radio."

"Fighter?" Peter repeated as Mitchell slipped into the house. "You mean, like a plane? Why can't we just use that and get out of here?"

"Don't know how to fly it." Mitchell replied. "Now quit yapping and stand guard."

"Oh." Peter said, and hesitantly gripped the weapon, ready to fire.

Meanwhile, Mitchell looked around the house for anything he could use as a radio. During his and Peter's long walk, he had given the situation a lot of thought, and figured that maybe there was somebody out there that could come to their aide. There happened to be a specific frequency the Air Force had developed for emergency communications such as this. And Mitchell knew of a way to boost the range on a radio a hundred fold thanks to his time in the Stargate program.

All he needed now was a radio. And he thankfully found one sitting on the mantle of the house's fireplace.

"Bingo." he said, gathering them up and returning to where Peter stood at the back door.

Once there, he sat down on the step and started tinkering with the radio while Peter stood guard. No warriors had turned up yet, so Mitchell figured they were probably safe for the moment. Having rewired the radio a little bit, he replaced it's cover on it and turned it on.

"This is Colonel Cameron Mitchell of the United States Air Force, calling anyone within range." he said into the radio. "I'm here with a civilian survivor and are in need of assistance. If some can be provided, or we can be directed to some, please respond. Repeat, this is Colonel Cameron Mitchell of the United States Air Force..."

"You really think there's anybody left to answer that?" Peter asked suddenly.

"One can only hope." Mitchell said. "Besides, I have a few resilient friends who have a knack for surviving stuff like this."

"Never give up, do they?" Peter asked.

"Not unless they're dead." Mitchell agreed, then paused. "And sometimes not even then."

Peter gave him a bewildered look.

"I'll explain later." Mitchell said, and went back to the radio. "This is Colonel Cameron Mitchell, calling..."

He got no further. A sudden flash of light engulfed the pair of them, and the next thing they knew, they both were suddenly in some kind of underground base. Mitchell, having been sitting when he was beamed to here, and crashed to the floor. Peter fired his staff weapon out of shock, fortunately not hitting anything but a plain wall, and was knocked over in the recoil.

They looked around. Carter stood and a technician stood at a control panel. Carter grinned.

"You got my call." Mitchell said.

Carter shrugged. "More or less." she replied.


	10. Author's Note

**Author's Note:** I know it has been some time since I updated this fanfic. For that, I apologize, but it's not for the lack of trying. It's just that I finally bit off more than I could chew, and was working on too many fanfics at once (I've been working on up to four at once). I just don't have enough time to cover them all, I guess. But there's another problem. Despite this fanfic having such a good and strong start, I've really been struggling to write new chapters. I'm struggling to capture the right attitudes and figuring how to keep the characters in character, which was proving much harder than expected. So much so, I'm actually finding myself neglecting the fanfic, which is a first for me, because in the past, no matter how badly said fanfic was going, I always stuck to it and saw it through to the end.

However, I still intend to do that with this fanfic, it's just that I have different ideas now. I believe I could've started the story an entirely different, and actually better, way. And so I'm now going to go back and start again, taking a different direction with the beginning, although in the end, things will end pretty much the same as the original would've.

Anyway, this note is here to let all you readers know what I intend to do. The original chapters will remain posted until I have the rewritten first chapter ready to post and then they'll be removed. Please still read and review, though, so I can get an idea of how many readers I've got, and of course, I'll listen to any suggestions you guys have.

Thanks.

-Scyphi


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